[HP: 11/86

MP: 0/86

SP: 0/86]

He stood amongst a mountain of bodies, the floor of the microbiome no longer visible. He could sense just nine adult survivors, two weak males and nine weak females. They were those deemed the caretakers of the children, chosen to stay behind while the rest of the Lorpee had thrown themselves at Dei in an endless swarm.

He was panting heavily, the nine of them watching him from above in the vines. He could tell they were terrified, their heartbeats faster than normal, even for a Lorpee. All of them wanted to attack, as he appeared weak, but they’d seen him tear through all the others while being in a worse state from his fight with the Storm Lorpee.

After the fight, he had actually been fast enough to deflect basically everything they could throw at him. With his higher physicality from the workout binge, his muscles were finally able to catch up to his mind, and he could slap them out of the air with ease.

He’d felt, for the first time, what it really meant to use [High Mind]. He hadn’t tried to split his mind yet, but the myriad of swooping Lorpee’s utterly failed to overwhelm him. He wasn’t able to “plan” his punches per se, he just had a better reaction time, and no singular stimuli took his attention for more than the moment it took to process it.

It was like before, his attention was a river, but in this fight it had become a pool. There was a small area around him that [High Mind] hyper-focused on, cutting the unimportant information out. Once their alpha died, the Lorpee’s no longer cared about running into each other to attack him. He’d kicked a nest of hornets, each Lorpee pushing others out of the way for the chance to get even the smallest swipe from him.

The only thing that saved him was mobility. He never stayed in place for a single second, and it was clear he outpaced them mentally. They would frequently lose track of him as he ran around trees and dodged in weird directions.

He estimated that each one had about the strength of seven gerbils. While that was a lot, he could fight seven gerbils. Not so easy when their were this many though.

He would have died very soon into the fight if not for [Growing Pains]. It healed about 1.4 HP per minute, at least before the fight. It was enough to stave off the blood loss during his fight with the boss, and had actually grown to about 1.7 HP per minute after the boss fight.

For the first six or seven minutes of constant Lorpee combat, he was doing really good. None of them could touch him, and he’d killed about half by that point. He was rehealing well from the boss fight, his supernatural regeneration knitting the flesh back together. Then he ran out of Stamina.

Rather than the bursts of speed he was doling out with reckless abandon moments before, all his muscles only moved at a walking pace. They quickly tore into him for about a second, but it almost cost him the fight. He immediately started hitting them with blasts of [Identify of the Stoud Protector]’s, just twenty mana each, but he always pulled from his stored Wrath. The identifies made them drop to the ground for multiple seconds, giving him space to breathe. He should have started doing that before he ran out of stamina, but he had been stingy, and still believed he could make due with his body alone. More than that, he wanted to train up some of his Skills, but it backfired completely. If he’d started stunning them at the start of the fight, before he was tired, the army would have been dead in three minutes, tops.

Instead, it had been an absolute slog, and he’d wasted almost all the Wrath mana in his [Pandora’s Box]. The three hundred he used against the alpha Lorpee was a necessary expenditure, as it was the strongest variant in the batch, after that though?

[Pandora’s Box:

96/2000 Wrath

7/2000 Kindness

80/2000 Soul.]

The 1200+ Wrath mana he’d used was just wasteful. He would’ve used perhaps half that if he took it seriously from the start. The air was actually thick with Wrath mana right now, but he had no idea how to pull it back into himself. Not all of it was destroyed upon impact with the Lorpees, some of it always escaping into the air, and now he could taste anger on his tongue. It was weird, tasting his emotions.

His Physical stat was leveling up during the fight. It didn’t increase how much “relative” health he had, so if he had 70% HP, he would still have 70% after the stat increase, but it did decrease how fast his HP went down. The “primal fighting” boost he’d gained from his [Born for Slaughter] Achievement did something similar, not increasing any stats on his interface, but the “durability” of each HP and SP was far better than it was before, outputting more before it ticked down.

His body was now repairing at a visible rate. Not that fast, it would still be around forty five minutes before his HP was back to full, but it wasn’t slow at all.

He had to wait though. He wanted to get back to at least half health before going through the caves. As it was, if a predator came in looking for food, they would be able to take some of the dead Lorpee bodies. He could play dead too, so he didn’t look like free experience points.

He was also fairly sad to know that he utterly failed in creating a boosting or attack ability using his Wrath affinity. He told himself he was going to during the fight, but he just didn’t hate the Lorpees, at least not enough to form a new connection to Wrath. The good news, though, was that free-range Wrath mana still strengthened his body while sending him into a berserker state, exactly how he’d assumed it would, just without the Skill to back it up.

While he waited, he decided to begin preparing to block up the entrance to the cave. He wasn’t going to lock himself in, but he could at least move the rocks to the outside. That way he could easily move the rocks into the opening he’d created. He genuinely did want the Lorpee’s to continue existing, even if he’d outgrown their power and usefulness to him personally.

The rocks weren’t light by any means, but he was glad to note that if he moved slowly, his SP would continue regenerating. After moving all the larger pieces to the outside of the cave, he went back in and started moving all the bodies. One at a time, he moved them all out into the open and scattered them around. If predators smelled blood, they wouldn’t immediately be attracted to the inside of the cave, as the buffet would be out front instead.

Once that was done, he washed off as best he could using a crack in the wall that spewed out water from the underground rivers that ran everywhere. He wasn’t clean at all by the end of it and smelled like pennies and mud, but at least he didn’t look like he’d butchered a cow while standing inside it anymore. He intended to go back into his home, and he did not want that smell following him.

He took off his pants, soaking them again and again to get the blood out. The dark brown fur actually released the blood very easily, like it was made to do exactly that. Which he supposed it was, as it was created by a society of warriors.

Using his pants to scrape even more gunk off him, then washing them again, he felt some semblance of clean, and was now at [HP: 73/86].

The whole thing took longer than he’d intended, but that was okay. He left the cave, and no scavengers had come by yet. He spent the time quickly putting the boulders back in place, using his hands to try and smooth out some of the cracks. His specialized Earth affinity was only meant for digging though, and it didn’t really work that well.

‘I should try and connect to the Earth affinity. It seems like it would be useful, underground and all. Kindness said it naturally dampened emotions though, and here I am spending time trying to at least marginally help a race of flying rats I doomed myself, so maybe I’m a little too sentimental for it.’

After doing the best he could to fill in the gaps, he decided against digging a hole in the wall for them to escape from. He would come back in a few weeks, after all these bodies were gone, if they hadn’t done it already themselves by that point.

In a fairly good condition, he again took off in a sprint down the cave after picking up four new Lorpee bodies, including the Storm Lorpee. He couldn’t exactly be more careful this time around than he was before, as he didn’t know how to do that, but he was more nervous this time around.

His backup plan had always been blasting things with Wrath mana until he could either deal a crippling blow or get away. Now, he didn’t have that, so he just tensely watched all the closest monsters he could see.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

He made it back home in record time with his new Physical stat and what felt like new Achievements, but he couldn’t yet be sure.

Sighing that his job wasn’t quite done yet, he made a pitstop to the [Biting Flesh Trap of Allure] and dropped off the three regular Lorpee’s. He noticed that the “bulb” part had gone away, and they now identified as a single plant. Were they a sort of hive mind when planted near each other?

He made it back into the Garden after squeezing through the crack, and collapsed to the ground, sighing. He wanted to take a nap, but not just yet. He still needed to look at his notifications and decide what to do with the special Lorpee.

Letting his legs rest for a few more moments, he eventually pushed himself up into a cross legged position and opened the long-awaited notifications.

[EXP gained for killing the Alpha Storm Lorpee Screamer (Level 213). EXP gain raised due to level disparity]

‘May his soul rest in peace.’

[EXP gained for killing the Aeroflight Lorpee Screamer (Level 177). EXP gain raised due to level disparity]

…

[EXP gained for killing the Aeroflight Lorpee Screamer (Level 152). EXP gain raised due to level disparity]

[Class Leveled Up: Prodigal Detector (level 53) -> (Level 54)]

[+1 Mental, +1 Magical]

…

[Class Leveled Up: Prodigal Detector (level 67) -> (Level 68)]

[+1 Mental, +1 Magical]

‘What! I killed hundreds of them, and all I get is fifteen levels? Most were a hundred levels over mine!’ he complained in his mind.

It was cool and all to level up so much, but why wasn’t it more?

Was this why he always noticed so many creatures were stuck around the mid levels of their evolution? Did things get exponentially harder the closer he was to his evolution?

That was likely, but he didn’t think it was all. He’d been thinking for a while that it would be far too overpowered if he got experience for creatures that were naturally weaker than him, but much higher level. Like the [Greengrow Beetle] that was almost level two hundred.

More than that, he remembered not getting experience for killing a plant that couldn't fight back. It seemed he earned experience for enemies relative to their power, not levels. The levels did still matter though, in context of the Achievements. He didn’t know why, perhaps because higher level creatures would have more exotic abilities, no matter what their baseline was originally? He side-eye’d the beetle sitting off to the side, wondering what it could do to defend itself.

Next were his skill level ups

[Skill Leveled Up: Growing Pains (83) -> (84)]

[Skill Leveled Up: Growing Pains (99) -> (100)]

[Skill: Growing Pains (100) has reached an evolution threshold]

[Total Stats Gained: +7 Physical]

[Skill Leveled Up: Fine-Tooth Comb (17) -> (18)]

…

[Skill Leveled Up: Fine-Tooth Comb (45) -> (46)]

[Skill Leveled Up: Vigilance (18) -> (19)]

…

[Skill Leveled Up: Vigilance (52) -> (53)]

[Skill Leveled Up: High Mind (14) -> (15)]

…

[Skill Leveled Up: High Mind (38) -> (39)]

[Skill Leveled Up: Identify of the Stout Protector (5) -> (6)]

…

[Skill Leveled Up: Identify of the Stout Protector (49) -> (50)]

The gains were incredible, and he finally had a Skill evolution! Well, the first in this life at least. They were also solid confirmation that levels tapered off around level fifty though, as all of them began to slow down at the mid-range. Except [High Mind], that slowed down immediately. It was a versatile Skill, so it made sense to require more in order to level it up.

Last, the Achievements. It was the entire reason he did this at all, as it would grant a boost he would never get the chance to again.

[Achievement Gained! Cruelty of the Slaughter (II)]

[Achievement Gained! Cruelty of the Slaughter (II)

Before the first sapient creature learned to wield the axe, before the first fire was ever started and the first morsel of food was ever cooked, there were the Slaughterers. Born to fight. To kill. To Slaughter. There was no one race who became the Slaughterers, no one people from whom they rose, they were merely those who rose to finish the fight. They were the scorned, the ones who lost their families to the unfeeling eyes of beasts, and promised to fight the war they never knew they were a part of.

They fought for their people, whoever they might be. They fought because they had nothing left. They fought to feel alive. Only death followed in their wake, their heavy footfalls shaking the earth to its core. The weight of their presence enough to kill weaker men.

But as communities banded together, the Slaughterers fell into obscurity. They protected the people, allowing for agriculture, music and arts to flourish where horrible monsters would have torn the beauties of creation apart.

By the time sapients had founded the first city, there were no Slaughterers left. They gave their life, blood, bones, and flesh so the support systems that protect sapience today might be given the chance to bear fruit.

The Slaughterers knew nothing but war from their first breath to their last. They raged against the horrible cruelty of it all, and died roaring in pain as the hordes of beasts tore them apart one too many times to come back from.

Now, in a squalid cave, abandoned by all, you follow in their mountainous footsteps, craters left behind by giants. In time, you too shall grow into them. You shall shake the earth with your every step. You shall Slaughter.

Or you shall die in that same squalid cave.

The safety of it is fleeting, a sweet lie told by the world that you may gain strength in hiding, that one day you will be ready. You know the truth, you know the Cruelty of it all. The ease of a comfort zone is a most insidious trap in the crucible of legends, the fires slowly growing hotter.

The flames will hurt, but you will grow stronger from them. If you wait to forge yourself, they will return you to ash as the safety you fooled yourself into believing you have turns into the smokescreen it has always been.

You have taken the first step in leaving the walls that both protect and imprison you, choosing to take the flames into yourself of your own accord. Only now, after placing yourself in calculated danger, have your chances of survival truly increased.

More than survival, you represent the sign of an ending to a generational war. Slaughterers are never born alone, the conditions that give rise to them often indicate a sickness within the society as a whole that requires the forceful hand of more to fix. Whether you are the first, fifth, or twentieth Slaughterer born in this era matters not, only that a reign of terror you do not know will soon end.

You have slain sixty enemies over one hundred levels higher than you before the age of one without any community to support you

* All Affinities advance 162.5% faster

* When engaging in primal fighting, boost Physical stat effects by 81.25%

* Increase Soul Presence]

It was a simple upgrade to the [Born for Slaughter] Achievement, but provided even more direction for those abandoned children that would soon become Slaughterers. It gave Dei advice on what he needed to do to survive long term, pushing him to continue leaving his cave in excursions in order to grow in power. It described his safety as something fleeting, to not be relied on, and told him that he hadn’t been advancing fast enough to actually live. It was weird how the System was given permission to almost directly advice him through these Achievements, but he wasn’t complaining, and was relieved to have his choices confirmed to be the right ones

This Achievement also told him that the world above was a bit fucked up, directly saying that he was pushed into hiding from a series of events that he wasn’t involved in. He already suspected that humans being forced to live underground while there was a brief mention of war would be related, and he now had confirmation that at least something was happening.

The Achievement also said something about a generational war, which made him think of another piece of information he already had

[Since the Fall: 7/14/809 - 17:43:09]

According to the timer, eight hundred years had passed since “the Fall.” It might just be his bias, as this was the only indication he had of something generations old, but what if this marked the start of the war? His mom told him that she didn’t know what the Fall was, but would she have told him the truth? She already didn’t want to talk about the war with him, understandably, as he was a child.

If he combined the hints given by [Cruelty of the Slaughter], tidbits from his mom, the shape of their society, and the timer, it painted a grim picture of the upper world.

He reread his newest Achievement thoughtfully. Somewhere up above, he had to imagine that people needed help. He had the chance to do more, to use his power and potentially end some long conflict. Would he want to though?

He didn’t know, but felt like he should. Maybe in the far-flung future, after he found his family, after he felt secure in his position, and when he wasn’t less than a year old, he would think about joining this war.

The thoughts of his age brought him back to how his birthday was tomorrow. He would soon turn one, and nothing would change. He would still be here, alone in the cave, with nobody to rely on.

He thought about the person, monster, or spirit he was trying to reach on the other side of the cavern, and hoped that next year he could celebrate his birthday with them. He smiled at the thought, and laid down to go to sleep. It was only five in the afternoon, but it had been an exhausting day.

Thoughts of friends and family filled his head as he drifted off, imagining the people he would surround himself with in the future.

[Name: Dei Grrata

Race: Human (Gem Dweller Variant)

Class: Prodigal Detector (Level 68)

Profession: Pondering Sage (Level 4)

Achievements: Void Walker, Soulspeak, Beyond Understanding, No Rulers Above All, Bearing the Burden, Slayer of Mountains, Cruelty of the Slaughter (II)

Contracts: Soul of the (IIIIIIII)

HP: 86/86

MP: 86/86

SP: 86/86

Stats:

Physical: 43

Mental: 44

Spiritual: 34

Magical: 45

Affinities:

Kindness: Mid-Rare, 57%

Wrath: Mid-Uncommon: 38%

Soul: Low-Uncommon: 58%

Inner Skills:

Kindness: Pandora’s Box (Contained) (50) (201/2000), Call for Help (9), Good Samaritan (1)

Wrath: Pandora’s Box (Unleashed) (2), Growing Pains (100)

Soul: Astral Projection (4), Connection (1)

Mana: Meditation (14)

Confluence: Identify of the Stout Protector (50)

Outer Skills:

How About a Demonstration?, Fine-Tooth Comb (46), Vigilance (53), In Tune (1), Commune with the Universe (2), High Mind (39)]