Kal moved slowly after leaving the cave, carefully watching the channels that led to Nyx and Ander. Just leaving the cave was further than the actual length of the channel he had forged but it didn’t seem to have any effect on the flow of abyssal mana.
Even when the channel passed through a solid object like the stone or metal in the nearby terrain it didn’t seem to have any effect on the flow. However, he could feel a slight increase in the pressure on his mind. It was nowhere near enough to threaten the connection but it was something he would have to keep in mind.
The channel continued to stretch as he moved further away from the cave until he felt a slight pressure at around the five-hundred feet mark. It was a lot better than he expected it to be already and he knew he could go significantly further without risk.
Kalum Lesta
Status
Class:
Slayer of Fate [Epic] [Anomalous]
Level:
72
Race:
Human?
Health:
4190
Stamina:
7960
Wrath:
0
Attributes
Strength:
810
Agility:
502
Endurance:
796
Vitality:
419
Intellect:
561
Perception:
519
Will:
1250
Wisdom:
496
Available:
24
Titles
Ascendant, Core Bane, Core Smith, Defier of Dhinir, Planeswalker, Planar Appetite, Slayer of the Strong, Endurance Elite, Strength Elite, Will Paragon, Demon Slayer, Paragon of Man, Planar Binding I, Soul Seer, True Slayer of Demonkind, Thief of Ages, Fate Diviner, Exemplar of Defiance, Disciple of Destruction
Skills
Soul Forge [Rare], Wrathful Regeneration [Uncommon], Wrath Incarnate [Uncommon], Abyssal Consumption [Rare], Flames of Wrath[Uncommon] [Soul Forged], Slayer’s Intent [Rare] [Soul Forged], Slayer’s Apathy [Rare] [Soul Forged], Edge of Malice [Common] [Soul Forged], Flesh of Iron [Rare], Eyes of the Slayer [Mythic] [Spiritbound]
Race
Birthright: Confined
Looking at his status Kal got an idea. Since the channel was made solely of his will attribute it would make sense that its durability and range were bound directly to the attribute’s level. Kal maneuvered himself to be at the very edge of the increased pressure and spent a single free point on will.
Strength:
810
Agility:
502
Endurance:
796
Vitality:
419
Intellect:
561
Perception:
519
Will:
1250=>1252
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
Wisdom:
496
Available:
23
With his titles, the total increase was two points and Kal felt the pressure vanish as the range of his channel increased. Kal figured that if each point in will was equal to the max range of his channel the range should have increased by two feet give or take so he took a step.
The pressure returned immediately after only about one foot which Kal took to mean that its max range was probably somewhere around half his will. Obviously, it wasn’t as good as his fool will score but at least he knew the general range.
“Six-hundred and twenty-six feet is decent enough. I should at least be able to hunt down a few imps-”
Kal was pulled from his thoughts by a distant thundering sound. Turning to look Kal’s eyes widened and he threw his hood only immediately as the distant sound quickly became a near deafening barrage. At first, he hadn’t recognized the sound but now that he saw what was coming he remembered it very well. It was the flapping wings of hundreds, no, thousands of demons.
[Seeker Flying Horror | Abyssal Spawn 70]
[Seeker Flying Horror | Abyssal Spawn 65]
[Seeker Flying Horror | Abyssal Spawn 72]
…
..
.
After the first couple, Kal didn’t bother identifying anymore and ducked behind a jagged plate of metal.
The demons were pale bird-like things covered in surprisingly white scales that oozed with black smoke. Where a bird had a beak the flying horrors had long alligator-like mouths filled with rows of jagged fangs and instead of feathers they sported thin membranes that oozed the same black smoke as the rest of their bodies. The smoke made them appear like dark wraiths obfuscating the motion of their actual wings.
Amongst the barrage of wings, Kal could hear one of the demons roaring in harsh single-syllable sounds and after a moment the words suddenly became clear to him as Planar Linguist activated on its own.
“Come brothers! Come sisters! Soon we hunt for the best meal of all. Our great purpose awaits us. The honor of conquest is ours! Come, come to the slaughter man!”
Kal hackles rose and his soul flared up in both the need to kill and the expectancy of combat but demons surged overhead completely ignoring him. Kal stepped out from behind the metal plate and dashed up a rise to watch their path of travel as they left a dense cloud of darkness in their wake that led directly to the distant tower.
“Well, at least they aren’t here for me…” Kal thought to himself as his mind raced.
So many strong demons all in one place made Kal glad that he hadn’t gone straight into a slaughter. Gods know what kind of force he would have dragged down onto their heads if he had. That was only one horde of one single variant and all of them were over sixty-five. Judging by the pressure he felt and their killing intent they were also strong for their level, not just the run-of-the-mill beast demons he had seen in Fallen Kartha.
But what did they mean about “the honor of conquest”? Was that the great task the handari hound had mentioned? Either way, Kal didn’t like it. Things were clearly different on this layer and apparently, they somehow had access to mortals to kill or they soon would.
Fyborh had warned him of the demons breaking through the firmament eventually but Kal didn’t think it would be so soon. Did Dalen and others know what was coming? Did anyone?
Kal ground his teeth, ”Damn it, there is always a fucking timer!”
He needed to figure out what was going on at the tower and whether or not it had anything to do with his homeworld. This time he couldn’t do that by slaughtering everything. No, he would have to go to the tower and do it the annoying way.
“Well, there goes my hunting prospects…”
With the flying horde added to the list of disturbingly coordinated actions of the demons on this layer Kal was definitely not comfortable with killing demons every chance he got. If they communicated as much as they seemed to be all it took was one demon to spread the word of his presence and he would be back to the same or worse conditions of the trial.
Kal trudged his way back to the cave while he considered his next step. He wanted to see what was going on at the tower and whether or not it had anything to do with his home world. However, to do that he would have to go there and due to the range of the connections between Nyx and Ander, they would have to follow as well.
Definitely not ideal but Kal didn’t know how he could possibly get around that problem. Even if he thought he could create a second core to absorb the abyssal mana in his stead it certainly wouldn’t be safe. If it ruptured he doubted atmospheric wrath would be any better than abyssal mana.
“Kalum?! What’s wrong?” Nyx called from the entrance of the cave.
Kal was surprised by the question and his expression must have given it away as she continued, “I felt it like before.”
“Right, well. A huge horde of demons just flew overhead toward a tower I spotted when I first arrived. I want to check it out but I will have to find a way to leave you both here,” Kal said as he stepped passed Nyx into the cave.
“What!?” Ander practically leaped to his feet in outrage, “No! I’m coming too!”
“Ander. If Kalum says we should stay behind we should trust his judgment. He knows more about this place than we do,” Nyx said, shutting down Ander’s complaint.
Kal was pretty sure that her words weren’t her actual feelings on the matter but her prophecy crap leaking through but right now it was for the best. But, that didn’t mean he would just leave them here with nothing if he could help it.
“You have the Shadow Archer class. Do you have any stealth skills that could hide the two of you?” Kal asked looking at Nyx and only just now realizing she had already patched her leather armor with the hydra skin.
Nyx grimaced, “Normally, yes but it requires mana to use.”
“Of course it does…” Kal frowned.
If only he could substitute her mana with his wrath somehow. Well. He probably could but it would almost certainly be as bad as injecting abyssal mana into her core. It was too bad. If she could remain hidden with Ander they probably could have simply followed him and remained outside of the towers area, giving Kal enough slack to work with but he guessed he would have to go with plan b.
“What skill do you have?” Kal asked. If she was so keen on keeping track of his skills he wasn’t going to hold back on his questioning.
“Charged Shot [Uncommon], Seeking Flight [Rare], Leather Worker Apprentice [Common], Shadow’s Grace [Rare], Bow Expert [Uncommon], Shadow’s Cloak [Uncommon], and Shadow’s Sense [Rare]. The first five use stamina as a resource and the last two use mana,” Nyx said in a practiced rush without a second thought.
Kal wasn’t expecting her to tell him all of her skills so readily but he nodded, “Thanks-” Kal paused mid-sentence as an idea came to him. If he could inspect someone's skills, was there any reason why he couldn’t just copy them?
The idea had crossed his mind briefly when he first got the Eyes of the Slayer skill but he had been far too busy to put it to use.
“How does Shadow’s Cloak work?” Kal asked.
“It is a skill I use very little simply due to my limited mana store. Here is the description,” Nyx waved her hand and Kal read the display that appeared in front of him.
Shadow’s Cloak [Uncommon]
A shadow must remain hidden while it stalks its prey. While this skill is active the user may choose up to two targets including themselves to be rendered invisible. Entities with sufficient Perception may see through the cloak depending on the potency of the cloak. Potency scales equally with Perception, Intellect, and Will.
The last part made Kal smile. His perception and intellect weren’t particularly high but his will sure was.
“Ok. I may be able to bring you along instead, or at least make traveling safer for the both of you but I’m going to need a minute,” Kal said, taking a seat in front of Nyx, “Sit down so I can get started.”
Nyx was visibly confused, probably from both Kal's sudden change of plan and odd questions but she sat down anyway, “What are you going to do?”
Kal shrugged, “I wasn’t keen on sharing this with you but if I succeed, I’m sure you will figure it out. Now stay still and focus on your Shadow’s Cloak skill.”
Nyx nodded and Kal activated his Eyes of the Slayer. Kal had told Nyx to concentrate on her skill more to keep her occupied than anything but now he was glad he did. Compared to when he had seen her core and the few visible skill threads and channels they had gone from nearly invisible lines to a series of pale white-blue lines.
He moved down the brightest of the bunch assuming it was the one he was looking for. Interestingly its main channel led directly to Nyx’s eyes just like his Slayer’s Intent, likely due to the way this particular selected its targets. Slayer’s Apathy could select more than one target in theory as well but that didn’t use his eyes so it made Kal wonder which was more efficient.
Kal put the thought aside and maneuvered his way down to Nyx’s core and focused his attention through the glare of the barrier he had forged.
It was time to make his first skill copy.