The baby Korgonda peeked its head out, watching him closely. It stared at him for a few minutes, and he slowly sat down on the ground.
All around them, the heat from the cave distorted the air, but he continued to not feel any of it in his Projected form. Using [Meaningful], he sent another message.
“I want to be friends and work together to survive. I let you keep that Anchor, even though I could have taken it, because I want to be your friend. I was also the one that made the monsters attack that Obsidian Elemental.”
It continued to eye him suspiciously, but it seemed to recognize the genuine goodwill as it slowly moved out of its cave, towards him. It had a very tiny, yet still visible Presence to it. The Korgonda’s Presence spoke of how the Korgonda would always“plan ahead.” Simple, unlike Dei’s own convoluted presence, but he figured that the newborn critter hadn’t had much experience with the world.
It slowly moved towards him in a half slithering pattern, until it was around a foot away, and kept looking at him. He was finally able to get a closer look at it, and noticed its head was angular, its mouth almost forming a beak of sorts. On top of that, it had tiny frills on the side of its head, like an axolotl. It was terribly cute, but he held back his desire to pick it up, as he didn’t want to scare it.
It sat on its hind legs and looked at him, making him smile. It started nodding its head at him, like it was trying to prompt him to do something. Did it want him to explain his plans further? He didn't really have any plans. Thinking quickly, he worked some out now, and decided that explaining his own situation would be for the best.
“I’m pretty young for my race, like you, but those of my own race are usually taken care of by their parents and community until they are older. Without a community, I feel very weak, and want to create one. I can help you now to get stronger, and then you can watch my back as we get older together. I want to be able to trust you and call you a friend, and rely on you to protect me when I am weak, like you are now, or hurt, like I might be in the future. To gain this trust, I will protect you where I can, and help you get stronger.”
It was a bit cold for what he really wanted, which was the “friend” aspect alone, but he thought a monster would appreciate it better. There were tangible benefits to him protecting this Korgonda and allowing it to flourish, so he thought it would be less suspicious if it could understand what Dei wanted. An animal would likely not grasp the concept of a friend, so he would work his way there. Powerful monsters were already proven to be smart, and it seemed like the Korgonda were natural born powerful and intelligent monsters, so his odds of being able to converse with it eventually were high.
The Korgonda, still sitting on its hind legs, tilted its head to study him more. ‘Awwww!’ he thought, resisting the urge to say it aloud.
In response to his message, it moved towards him carefully, eventually scaling his leg and putting its nose to him. He hurt a tiny huffing as it sniffed him, then it began crawling all over him, sniffing the entire way.
Up and down his body, it quickly moved, and he stayed as still as he could, for fear of squishing it by accident.
When it was done, it moved back to its original position on the ground and faced him again. He felt it send a pulse his way, and a notification popped up in front of him
[The Korgonda has offered contract of Mutual Respect]
[Mutual Respect
The Korgonda is grateful for your intervention where it would have either died or been robbed of its spoils by its brethren, while it acknowledges your intentions were not entirely selfless, it respects you for doing so anyway. It has offered you the pact of Mutual Respect, accepting your terms to assist it in exchange for future alliance
* Mutual Respect of the Korgonda.]
Weirdly enough, it seemed sentimental about the whole situation too, so it might not have actually been a bad idea to offer it friendship as the first term. Still, he considered it a success, and wouldn’t try and change up the deal, accepting the contract as it was.
He felt an intangible bond formed between them, and knew he would be able to get a basic sense for where this Korgonda was, and recognize it among its kin.
“Okay, now, I know I promised to protect you, but that last battle dealt significant damage to me, and I need to go back home to hide away and heal. For now, I’m going to feed you some of my mana, so you may become stronger and take care of yourself while I’m not here. I’ll come back in thirty days, so survive until then. Once I’m back, we can work out a better idea together. You cant leave the lava area, can you? Move your head side to side if you can't leave, up and down if you can.”
He watched it move its head side to side, proving that he couldn't just take it back home to hide it there. He intended to feed it some Soul mana to both give it power, and hopefully help it attune to a Soul-derivative affinity, potentially giving it a way to communicate.
“Alright, make sure to eat it all so that bigger monsters don't sense it and come by. Once I’ve given you enough, I’ll leave, and come back later.”
Not delaying any longer he tried using his hands to cut a small pinprick in his finger and willed it to release mana. While it wasn’t visible, his [Natural Claws] were still sharp against Spiritual entities, of which he was one. Poking the top of his finger and allowing himself to be hurt, a small stream of Soul mana began exiting him. The Korgonda leapt for it instantly, biting the tip of his finger but failing to hurt him, instead allowing the mana to flow through its body.
After twenty two Soul mana, it unstuck itself from his finger, and he willed the wound to close. He’d dropped down to [Soul Strength: 231/253], and realized that the spread of Soul mana in his body felt uneven. He sensed how [Homeostasis] didn’t heal him, but brought him back into balance, making his body sturdier than it was before, and his Soul Strength read [231/231].
The Korgonda scurried back into its crevice, and Dei was about to fade back into the Spirit World when he felt a strong response from his [Spirit Sense].
Deeper in the caves, where he’d helped distract the Obsidian Elemental with a cloud of Soul mana, the monsters were still raging against each other. He’d passively kept an eye on the fight, sensing that some would consume large quantities of the mana, only to be ripped apart by others and have the mana re-released into the air. More and more enemies flooded to the growing quantity of Soul mana being released by all the dying monsters, and it began shining like a beacon in his mind's eye.
He watched something within it change, and intent was born into it. The Wrath mana he’d left, the large quantities of Convection mana released from all the dying Convection monsters, and the concentrated cloud of Soul mana began to coalesce.
‘I can watch this… from afar.’ he thought, and started sprinting as fast as he could, flying when he had the spare SP.
He continued watching though, and it looked like how he imagined a star collapsing would.
It spread out first, balancing itself as it pulled in all directions, then began to fall inward, compressing itself over and over.
The different mana types rolled through each other, merging like taffy through a mixer, slowly blending their colors together through the solid mass. Each color distinct, yet undoubtedly linked to one another.
Flying, both literally and metaphorically, down the tunnels, he was half a mile away when a wave of spiritual force rolled over him, and a hollow scream echoed around the edges of his mind, teasing at his [Spirit Sense].
The other Spirits in his senses were indistinct blobs, like flickering candle lights. This one was both brighter and more distinct, a silhouette with a raging inferno as its backdrop.
The top portion was angular, shaped like the Obsidian Elemental, while the area below its waist became tattered and discordant, disconnected fragments of crystal.
He watched as it got its bearings for a moment, taking in the battlefield around it that suddenly came to a standstill at its birth.
He might have been imagining things, as the [Spirit Sense] wasn’t exact from this far away, but the creature seemed to crack a smile moments before it started tearing through all the monsters left alive.
Any that were approaching before turned around instantly, having deemed their supposed prizes lost.
While it was not quick at killing the monsters by any means, many of them had no ways to fight back. He watched how those few who dealt damage were singled out and killed quickly, the rest falling slowly like fish in a barrel. The Spirit fought enduringly, draining its enemies with a cruel inevitability that left them scrambling. By the time they realized it was hopeless, they were already too weak to run, and died.
After slaying the monsters around it, he watched it float ominously in place for a few seconds, before its face snapped towards him, and began chasing.
‘Fucking what! How can it see me? Wait, I can see it, is it through Spirit Sense?’
If it had [Spirit Sense] too, that had a few implications, and he needed to consider them all now. The first issue: would it go after his new friend, the Korgonda?
Reading through his spirit sense, he realized he could, sadly, sense it. If he could, this new spirit would as well. It was chasing Dei because he was the largest portion of spirit energy, and it was trying to build its mass faster, like a regular spirit.
If he went back and hid in his cave, he had no doubt this new creature would go around absorbing all the nearest beacons of spiritual energy. In other words, his new friend, and his original target.
Perhaps not though? What if it didn’t have [Spirit Sense (Major)], like he did, but a lesser form of it? It might not be able to sense the Korgonda or trapped spirit he intended to help. Back to the original point, why did it have [Spirit Sense]? He felt a little silly for not considering it earlier, but it could probably sense him because he had the generic Racial abilities that all spirits had. If that tracked, this Spirit would also have [Darkvision], [Spiritual Re-Attunement], and [Natural Claws].
Would it have the same advanced level of each though? He had to guess yes, because this Spirit was something of his son. It was made from hundreds of the Soul mana he used to make his body, a highly concentrated source with upgraded racial bonuses. He’d deduced that his [Astral Projection] Skill imbued the mana with some purpose, a natural instinct or life to give him. The spirit that was just born would have that same life, it would duplicate his spiritual abilities.
This also brought into question: would spirits upgrade their racial bonuses by absorbing higher quality Spirits? Irrelevant for now, but important later, if he survived.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
So, he decided to assume this spirit would have all of his Racial abilities, meaning to absolutely NOT fight it in his spiritual form, as the [Natural Claws] would rip him apart way too fast. Not to mention, it had around seven to eight hundred [Soul Strength] that it had taken from him, while he only had two hundred.
What he’d deduced so far went as follows: If he hid from it, he’d lose all hope of friends, and it had all his Spiritual Racial abilities.
More than just his own, it was clearly made from Wrath mana and the Obsidian Elemental’s Convection and Soul mana. Would it be the same level as the Elemental? If it was, he was screwed.
He would have to fight it toe to toe with his physical body if he was going to fight it at all. Could he? Running as his mind raced, he was reaching around the halfway point to his house, the spirit still chasing him. He tried calculating exactly how many stats it had, using [High Mind] to pull up the Obsidian Elementals stat block.
[Convection Shatterwarmer Obsidian Elemental (Anchor Beast) - Level 271
An Obsidian Elemental born near a Convection Anchor that chose to tie itself to the anchor. In doing so, it allowed the Anchor to become mobile while risking itself in the process. By tying itself to the Anchor, it began to passively generate EXP, gaining power. It dug tunnels to create an optimal system for the Convection mana to flow through, strengthening it further, then gave up its extra mobility in favor of boosted EXP gain. Not allowed to move the Anchor any longer for fear of weakening its connection to Convection, it instead guarded it from attacks on the Anchor, until a small thief stole it after a particularly difficult battle with one of the denizens within the cave system. Without the Anchor, it will begin to weaken and die at a rate relative to how far away the Anchor is from the Elemental
Physical: 95
Mental: 32
Spiritual: 101
Magical: 67]
The Spirt got its physical body from the Elemental, and its Spiritual Powers from him, so he could only assume it would share more than its looks with the Obsidian Elemental. The appearance was most likely indicative of the main portion of its identity, having essentially become a reincarnated version of the Obsidian Elemental (filing that implication away for later), as its will took charge of the spirit. The elemental was the strongest creature in the fight, so it made sense. Essentially, it would share many features with the Obsidian Elemental, and he could calculate its power based on that.
To do that, he looked back on all the different creatures he’d [Identified], as well as his own experience. From what he understood, Common creatures earned fifty stat points per hundred levels, Uncommon creatures earned one hundred stat points per hundred levels, and Rare creatures earned one hundred and fifty stat points per hundred levels. The Obsidian Elemental was born at Common, upgraded to Uncommon at level one hundred, then to rare at level two hundred. It had approximately two hundred and fifty six stat points to work with, and it balanced them into high Physical and Spiritual, middling Magical, and low Mental.
{Math Incoming. Skip ahead to designated spot if you want to, only the result is plot relevant.}
The spirit chasing him was of equal speed to how fast he was running, so he wanted to say that it had the same Physical as him, but he knew that was a trap. It didn’t. Different baselines would express themselves differently, and an Obsidian Elemental would doubtlessly be both slow and durable. In order to calculate how high the new spirits Physical stat was, he needed to find the Obsidian Elementals baseline speed and divide how fast the spirit of it currently is by that number, in order to get the multiplier it received from its stats. From this multiplier, he would find its approximate Physical stat, then use that to calculate all the rest of its stats. If his physical body's capabilities exceeded its physical body, he could reasonably fight and survive. If they didn’t, he would have to give up on his friends, which would probably prove lethal in the long run anyway as madness set in.
To find its baseline, Dei employed his Eidetic memory for the first time in combat. He re-merged his minds back together, cloaking obviously ineffective in this scenario, then split it into two independent minds of equal size. His [Vigilance] activated the moment this Spirit began chasing him, as his life was in danger, and it now gave him enough mental power to create two fully functioning minds without crippling his thought processes.
One mind activated his [High Mind]’s Eidetic memory, the other kept running, keeping a cautious eye out.
The event with the Obsidian Elemental just happened, so the memory was fresh. Almost immediately, he was brought back to the moment when the Elementals soul was unraveling, and he Identified it, trying to glean how fast it was relative to his own baseline
While he couldn’t get exact measurements, its basline was approximately zero point six times as fast as him, in other words forty percent slower.
If it was currently as fast as him, at forty six Physcial, its true Physical stat would be around seventy six, meaning its stats had been stunted by twenty percent.
Now, he began calculating the spread of its other stats, if it was the same as the Obsidian Elemental:
Physical: 76.66 repeating
Mental: 25.6
Spiritual: 80.8
Magical: 53.6
{Math Ended}
Once his own Physical stat became boosted with his [Cruelty of the Slaughter] Achievement, it would become eighty three, higher than the Elementals. It would be more durable and stronger than him, but he would be much faster than it.
Its Magical stat surpassed his Spiritual, meaning that he would not be able to resist its magic effectively, and its Spiritual greatly surpassed his Magical, so it would be able to resist him.
To win, he needed to make it a physical brawl, outspeed it, and move faster than its pitifully low Mental stat could keep up… it was doable though, and he would take that chance.
He tried imagining how he intended to hurt it, but thought back to his first Achievement ever earned:
[Achievement Gained! Voidwalker
You have traveled the void from one plane of existence to the next, without being cleansed
* Void affinity is 30% easier to learn and advance
* +30% resistance to void attacks
* When striking intangible opponents with a physical attack, 20% of the physical damage is carried over into intangible damage]
Intangible damage. Twenty percent of his physical damage became intangible. It wasn’t much, but he wouldn’t be helpless like the monsters were.
‘I can beat it. I have to kill it, or I will lose everything I’ve worked towards, and I will not let that happen.’
At his own declaration, Wrath mana began flowing through his connection more freely, giving him one more tool to win with.
* * *
Untiring in his Spiritual form, Dei made it back to the Garden far ahead of the spirit still chasing him. He waited for it to be only half a mile behind him, then pushed through into his hidden bubble. While it risked revealing his hiding space, Dei was in too deep to back out now. He would either win, or he wouldn’t.
Seeing his own body, hale and healthy despite the journey altogether taking around fifteen hours, put his mind at ease slightly. It was well rested and fed, perfect for the upcoming fight.
Right before his Identity merged back into the body though, his eyes landed upon a silver spike poking out from his mothers bag.
The [Biting Flesh Trap of Allure] was a sharp plant with the Heart affinity, a Soul derivative affinity. Originally, he intended to face the spirit with his bare fists, but wouldn't it be better with a weapon?
It was sharp along the entire spike, like a naturally grown blade of a dagger.
The Mind affinity was able to hurt him as a spirit, so Heart attuned wasn’t far off. Deciding he would try, Dei wanted to give the Flesh Trap an even stronger edge.
He picked it up by the flat part, glad he couldn’t feel damage in this body from what he was about to do, and stabbed it though his hand.
‘OH FFFUCK!’ he screamed in his head, groaning outwardly. Well he normally couldn’t feel pain using this body, but he’d forgotten that certain affinities could still inflict it on him, and Heart was now proven to be one such affinity. ‘At least I now know it can damage spirits. Silver linings I suppose.’
He was about to give all the Soul mana back to his physical body, where it would effectively disappear. He might as well pour a large portion of it into his soon-to-be weapon in order to hopefully strengthen it.
This one drank greedily, far more than the Korgonda. He stopped it at drinking one hundred and fifty mana, not wanting his health to go any lower, and placed it back into his moms bag, Identifying it.
[Biting Flesh Trap of Allure bulb (Charged) - Level 226
Biting Flesh Traps are plants that slowly compact themselves flat to the ground, blending in with the terrain around them. When animals step on them, they shoot up, biting into the flesh of the creatures, drinking the blood that falls to the ground. If left to fester, fields of Biting Flesh Traps are capable of slaying monsters by impaling them repeatedly.
This particular strain has evolved, attuning itself to the Heart affinity. It will use such an affinity to entice animals to walk onto it, then fill them with fear after they are injured so they run away, allowing the Biting Flesh Trap of Allure to drink the blood in peace.
This bulb has been highly charged with Mild Concentration Soul Mana]
He could keep studying it under Identify, but was already doubtlessly running out of time before the Spirit reached the last place it had sensed him, if it was still searching at all.
He plunged back into his own body, finally feeling what the extra Soul mana he normally had left over did as a sort of “rash” formed between his Identity and the rest of his soul. It wouldn’t hurt him, but it was very uncomfortable, and he’d try to leave more to help alleviate it next time.
He breathed deeply and went to pick up the charged Flesh Trap, but was met with a conundrum: how would he hold it stable? He needed to grip it tightly without cutting himself, and tried thinking about what he could do.
Sighing, he realized there was one way to keep it stable, and grimaced. ‘Do I need it that badly?’ He wanted to wait and see the spirit before making his decision on whether he would use the spike or not.
He pushed himself out of the bubble and through the crack in the wall, standing in the empty to the empty corridor with a bone white blade held gingerly in his hands. He faced the way he knew the spirit would come from, and waited.
While he didn’t have the [Spirit Sense] Racial ability any longer, his connection to Soul still provided the basic sense, and his Contract increased the sensitivity further. He felt it coming, charging him like a bull. The ground didn’t shake, but a presence began to oppress the area. It was a subtle thing, almost imperceptible, but it begged the attention of all in the area. He heard the bugs growing quieter, the wind calming and the distant drips of water fading into nothing. The monster had yet to appear, but Dei already decided his new weapon would be a comfort to have in this battle.
Not bothering to mentally complain, he turned the skin on his hand to dirt, and allowed the roots of the Biting Flesh Trap to burrow into him.
The roots of such plants spread eagerly when given the chance to, and it only took a few seconds for it to settle. Finding his blood stream, it attempted to begin draining him, but he pulsed his Soul affinity, commanding it to stop until after the fight. It ignored him, demanding compensation for its part in this battle and the risk it took.
‘Huh, weirdly smart in a simple way.’
Still, he fed it the information that it would be able to take any of the Mana it could rip from the creature he was soon to fight, and the Flesh Trap calmed. It didn’t like being used as a dagger, but did like the idea of biting into a powerful enemy. He tested with turning his Dirt Skin from [Camouflage] back into flesh, and it hurt like a bitch, but the Flesh Trap stemmed his bleeding.
He would cringe at how gruesome it was, but the Spirit finally turned its last corner, laying eyes on him and slowing down. It began to assess him, somehow knowing that he was its target, and he studied it right back. It was exactly how he pictured it to be shaped, taking closely after the Obsidian Elemental that had died once its Anchor was taken away. Its head spikes and claws were oranged tipped, and floating fragments hovered where its legs would normally be. The sharp, angular eyes were pinpoints of white, while the rest of it was a glossy black.
He made a quick check of his [Pandora’s Box] to see what mana he was working with, Wrath mana still rapidly being pulled into his body.
[638/2000 Wrath
380/2000 Kindness
235/2000 Soul]
He focused intensely on the Spirit before him. For some reason, he found himself absolutely hating the thing, furious that it might kill the two beings that kept him sane in this horrible place. The anger simmering within him made him realize that there was never any chance of hiding away. Even if he calculated that it exceeded his stats in every way, he would still have left his cave with a hope to hold on to.
The distant Spirit and Korgonda both represented something more to him than safety in numbers. They were ambition for the future, and friends to care for. The longer he survived, the more he became motivated by his loneliness over his will to live.
He cared for them, even if he’d never actually spoken to either, and would die swinging if it meant ensuring their safety.
His purpose clear, everything fell into place. His focus sharpened, and the reincarnated Obsidian Elemental realized the battle would soon commence.
Dei lowered his stance, finding himself growling animalistically, and kicked off the ground.