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Chapter 97- A Stupid Idea

Thankfully, Alan's Class armor was currently holding up a lot better than his feet were, but he had absolutely no idea how long Level 1 Class equipment would be able to resist the corrosive effects of the Scumbag's innards. Realistically as it was made from his own [F-Stage] flesh and bone, it could only last for so long before it too began to break down.

Mind racing, Alan continued seeking out a solution that didn't require him to hold his breath and claw his way out of a ball of flesh eating ooze packed full of decomposing Almiraj babies. In the midst of his struggles Alan happened to spot his Storage Case sitting near the fallen tree where he'd left it. All of a sudden the beginnings of an idea began to form.

A pair of Mana-Steel spikes manifested in his hands, summoned out of inventory only to be driven pointed end down as deep into the ground as possible. Anchor points secured to the best of his ability, Alan released his right hand and pulled the Basilisk Fang from Storage. Leaning sideways to improve his leverage, he wrenched his body back and slammed his weapon hilt-deep into the Scumbag in hopes of cutting himself free and maybe even applying a Debuff for his troubles.

Caution! Lvl 11 Scumbag is immune to [Petrification].

Shit. Of course it wouldn't be that easy… Alan pulled back on the dagger in hopes of cutting his legs free but the damned thing refused to budge. When his first attempt to move the blade failed, he tried again and again in rapid succession. It was an exercise in futility. In the end, all he came away with was a smoking handle and a twitch in his eye.

“What the fuck did you just do?!“ Alan demanded of the disgusting monster, at the same time looking down at his ruined blade with contempt plastered all over his features. He wasn't sure if it was a Skill or Technique the beast was using, or maybe even a bloodline ability. Perhaps it was utilizing something else altogether. Either way, Alan was beyond pissed off. The scumbag's internals had completely, and almost instantaneously eaten his favorite dagger's namesake fang.

The ease with which the Scumbag had destroyed the Basilisk Fang didn't bode well for the rest of his weaponry. As far as Alan could tell, this beast seemed impervious to physical attacks in general. Which left him in the precarious position of combing his brain for a way out of this mess.

Preferably one that didn't require calling out to Su'ong for help.

Alan flung the remnants of his weapon at the Scumbag, twisted back around and grabbed the Mana-Steel anchor point. As quick as he could, Alan tore it free of the dirt, reached out as far as he could, and drove it back into the ground, only to pull himself forward as far as possible and repeat the process with the spike in his left hand.

With each breath he took, Alan could feel his Core being replenished, but he couldn't help but wonder what he could do to speed up the process. As things currently stood, he was wasting far too much energy. Using the spikes to shimmy across the ground in a bid to keep his unwanted hitchhiker from swallowing him whole was beginning to grow tiring. Unfortunately, being bound to the Scumbag felt like dragging around a boulder.

Alan knew that theoretically, he should be able to do as Su'ong had, and absorb the energy from one of his Mana Crystals to replenish a bit of his reserves. In his opinion, it wasn't too far fetched of an idea to use the boost it provided to activate [Mirage Step], or at least muster up a [Meteoric Rush].

It was a longshot, but there was also the chance he could utilize [Advanced Spell Alteration] in an attempt to channel the Attuned Mana into the formation of a spell.

Well, that's probably pushing my luck. All I'm likely to accomplish would be more of a random blast of elemental power than any actual Spell. Hopefully one that will be strong enough to kill this damned thing…

The more he thought about it, the plan was full of so many holes and weaknesses that it honestly felt like a complete waste of time. However, he was of the opinion that as long as he used a Mana Crystal that matched his affinities, the worst that would happen was relinquishing the ground he'd gained back to the Scumbag. That, and wasting a potentially valuable treasure.

If that didn't work, there were still a few options. Alan had [Rune of Subjugation] to fall back on, but not only did the Level difference between himself and the Scumbag make any attempt to bind the beast to his service likey to fail, the thought of being followed around by a stinking puddle of slime was all it took to dismiss that course of action as unacceptable.

Regardless of what he choose to do, Alan knew it needed to happen fast. The Scumbag had already managed to creep up to his hips, proving his attempts to claw forward to be an ineffective tactic at best.

“This… is a really fucking stupid idea…” Alan snarled, twisting his lower body from side to side. All out of ideas that would allow him to return to camp smelling anything less than absolute death, Alan took a moment to readjust the grip of his right hand. Satisfied, he opened his left hand and summoned his Fire Attuned Mana Crystal.

Acting on instinct, desire, and more than a little desperation, Alan activated [Elemental Manipulation] and [Advanced Spell Alteration], diverting all his attention to the blazing energy he could cleary see churning within the fist-sized chunk of what looked like crystalized fire and pulling with all the suction his famished Core could muster.

A dazzling burst of ruby light erupted in his face. The pain was so intense that he hardly even noticed his entire body was blazing like stoked embers. It felt like all of his bones were melting. For a moment, his mind blanked out, the agony surging through his limbs leaving him unable to process his surroundings.

In the midst of his confusion, Alan recieved a notification but lacked the mental faculties to make any sense of its contents. Every fiber of his waning spirit was devoted to pressing back against the looming darkness. It had become a battle just to stay conscious.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

The world around Alan shifted ominously, and the pain was suddenly assaulting him from everywhere. Not only was he left with no other option but to accept the storm of fire rampaging throughout his body, now the exposed scales of his head and arms were subjected to a baptism in acid.

Within the span of a second the agony increased to an almost unimaginable magnitude. Alan sucked in a ragged breath between clenched teeth, yet drew in not air, but a wretched tasting sludge that ignited a wildfire of anguish on the sensitive flesh of his mouth. Even his sturdy teeth and claws began to ache.

Confusion turned to worry, and then all out panic as Alan opened his eyes only to find himself submerged upsidedown in the depths of the Scumbag. Floating amidst the bubbling bones of countless baby bunnies. Through the viscous liquid scalding his eyes, Alan saw that the Mana Crystal was already less than half the size it was only moments before when he'd started this stupid plan.

Alan spit out the foamy mess and clamped his eyes and mouth closed as an explosion of pressure slammed into his Core with all the subtly of an asteroid striking an ant hill. While there wasn't much Celestial Energy remaining in Alan's Core, he judged it to be close to five percent of his capacity, that was all it took the have an immediate, and violent reaction.

It was as if time suddenly stood still.

Alan's Unorthodox Energy source took offense to the invading Mana. The small whirlpool of Celestial Energy gathered in the center of his Core, abruptly and quite jarringly reversing its polarity. Locked in place, Alan was made to endure a sickening feeling of wrongness on top of everything else.

A tiny clinking sound reverberated from the core of Alan's Core. All active skills deactivated automatically as it echoed through every cell in his body, sounding at once both musical and haunting. He only required one horrifying heartbeat to understand the interior of his newly-formed Cultivation Core was cracking, and there was nothing he could do to reverse the process.

The whirling Celestial Energy saw it's opportunity to escape the intrusive Fire Mana and wasted no time breaking through this strange, immaterial crack. Ignoring the mental discombobulation, Alan shoved a wisp of his consciousness in after his fleeing Energy signature and was greeted with a massive expanse of what seemed to be an isolated location mirroring outer space.

Tiny orbs of colored light winked in the distance. All but one were colored in various hues of reds, blues, browns and greens. The only standout was a colorless orb, seemingly placed in the center of everything. Alan likely would've missed it if not for the subtle illumination it emitted. Alan knew I instinctively that these were related to his Affinities, yet he wasn't exactly sure how what he was supposed to do with them.

Glittering energy was drawn from the physical Core, taking the shape of a tiny golden thread that shot off into the distance. Alan noted that it was headed in the direction of the colorless orb right before it slammed into a clear dome-like obstacle and curved upwards. Undeterred, the thread somehow converted impact into a boost of momentum and shot towards the top.

The golden thread reached the apex of the enclosure and angled off to the right. It circled the top, quickly forming a golden coin beneath the barrier as it spiraled around and around. Little by little, that tiny coin began to form a small bowl. Entranced, Alan would've been satisfied remaining to watch his accumulating energy for another century if not for a mind-numbing pang of danger.

During Alan's inner journey, the pressure in his Core was thankfully dropping steadily. Yet while it eased the strain in one location, the issue was immediately exacerbated in another.

Before he had a chance to react, Alan's awareness was ripped back into his body with the unfortunate timing to feel every one of his muscles spasming. Back arching against his will, Alan tried not to scream as the Fire Attuned Mana was violently ejected through what felt like dozens of kinked and knotted hoses winding throughout the whole of his being.

He was beginning to feel like an overinflated balloon, and feared that as such, should nothing be done to alleviate the growing strain he was soon to pop. Biting back a scream, Alan floated in the depths of the Scumbag while the pressure slowly but surely forced it's way through the restricted channels and pathways. All the while feeling as if needle-mouthed worms were burrowing through the musculature in his arms, legs, back and sides, weaving side to side, etching out honeycomb-like structures just below the surface.

Fuck. Fuck. FUCKKK!!! I KNEW THIS WAS A STUPID IDEA!!

Just when Alan was sure he'd once again fucked up royally, the pressure in his arms released in a flood of warmth that felt so damned good that he almost sighed. Alas, the feeling was extremely short-lived. When the Fire Attuned Mana burst from the pores of his hands, an open circuit of sorts was formed between his Core and the grape-sized chunks that were all that remained of the Mana Crystal.

Desperate to regain control, yet clueless how to do so, Alan re-activated [Elemental Manipulation] and prepared for a really bad time.

Apparently, absorbing Mana from a Mana Crystal while also unwittingly trying to re-imbue that same crystal with its own Mana was akin to creating, and then unleashing a thermobarbaric bomb. A roiling ball of the purest scarlet flames manifested between the palms of Alan's outstretched hands just as a golden flash lit up the interior of the wobbling Scumbag.

It was blinding even through Alan's armored eyelids, but was much worse if viewed from without. The beast's spherical body magnified and refracted the light created by the unstable reaction, making it look like a miniature sun had descended from the heavens.

[Elemental Manipulation]'s assistance was enough to keep from being reduced to ash, but it took every morsel of Alan's concentration to direct the ensuing blast in an upwards trajectory. Right on que, the crimson flames detonated. A section of the Scumbag's innards similar in size to a basketball was instantaneously annihilated in a violent detonation of glittering fire that, guided by Alan's meager control, erupted through the top of the Scumbag and struck the barrier nearly a hundred feet above.

Finding no purchase upon the barrier, the flames washed out to all sides and began to disperse into a plume of cloying smoke and steam.

Within the soundless depths of the Scumbag, Alan heard a muted bang not half a second before a wall of intense force and sound ripped through the caustic, glue-like bowels encasing him. Alan was helpless to stop himself from being slammed face-first into the hard-packed soil as a deafening explosion released a shockwave of pressurized acid that ripped through the Plains Zone, flattening the grass around the small clearing for over fifty feet in all directions.

Remarkable! You defeated a Lvl 11 Scumbag!

+122 Exp!

“Fu..ck…” Alan croaked out, dismissing the notice and flopping over onto his back, a thick layer of ooze clinging to every inch of his body. It still burned something fierce, but Alan wasn't sure if that was the from the accumulated damage, or if the sticky substance was still trying to digest him.

Ignoring the aggravating flashes of a dismissed notification, Alan tried his best to rub the slime from his eyes. The brief contact was all it took to prompt another notice to materialize.

Would you like to loot this Lvl 11 Scumbag? Yes/No.