Kal ran as hard as he could, careless of his dwindling stamina. Swarming behind him was easily fifty kuroxet, each of them quickly gaining on him. His passage across the treacherous terrain of the plateau was quicker than before but not fast enough to outpace the bloody things. He was low on stamina before he started running but now he was truly at the bottom of the barrel, if only he could use his Wrath for stamina regeneration. At least while he was running they didn’t seem to be able to spit at him like this. He couldn’t keep running through, sooner or later they would catch him, and judging by his measly stamina it would be sooner rather than later. He was searching the area as he ran for somewhere to make a stand but there really was nowhere he could get an advantage. The plateau simply stretched on further than he could see, it's only scared by the never-ending web of cracks and crevices. He found a section of stone that had a larger-than-average gap between it and the next section and turned back towards the wave of bloodthirsty bastards. In less than a second they were upon him, but Kal met them with a mighty swing from his club.
You have slain [Kuroxet | Abyss Spawn 7] - Bonus experience award for defeating a higher leveled entity.
Level up!
Kal surprised himself with the kill but he didn’t let it slow him down, he immediately activated Wrathful Regeneration as he felt several claws bury themselves in his body and arms. He yelled in agony as several long claws pierced his body, scraping against bone and rupturing organs. It was all amplified by the searing pain of his skill healing him, his Birthright rearing its head as his anger returned in a sudden flush. He swung the club again, sweeping through the horde of kuroxet, and felt flesh part and bones break as it continued through the mass of churning claws. His vision began to dark, the terrain growing monochrome. Suddenly a feeling of disgust came over him, to be killed by these things would be a disgrace. He was the slayer here. The colors in his vision began to shift even more as the creatures swarming all around him began to glow bright crimson and soon all he could see was that crimson glow. The claws stuck in his body began to pull free to attempt to gore him elsewhere but his club moved again, shattering arms, and rending flesh. Every moment his vision darkened, then flared with new life as the notifications came in.
Mutilation Bonus Awarded
Mutilation Bonus Awarded
Mutilation Bonus Awarded
The healing of Wrathful Regeneration barely keeping him alive Kal fought on, several torn free arms dangled from his chest, blood poured from his mouth as his insides were torn apart then slowly healed.
You have slain [Kuroxet | Abyss Spawn 6] - Bonus experience award for defeating a higher leveled entity.
Mutilation Bonus added to total.
You have slain [Kuroxet | Abyss Spawn 5] - Bonus experience award for defeating a higher leveled entity.
Mutilation Bonus added to total.
Kal’s vision was fading once more as his stamina bottomed out, and his makeshift club fell from his hands as another surge of the kuroxet leaped over the bodies of their dead or maimed allies. The crimson lights of their bodies flared in his eyes one last time as they struck and he tumbled backward, his legs clipping the edge of the stone as he went over the edge into the darkness below the plateau.
Thousands of voices cried out for release through torrents of blood and bile. Death and chaos spread throughout everything. Earth darkened, plants withered, and mortals died in the millions. No! No! He couldn’t wake up and face that, it was all his fault it was-
A deep voice emerged from the torment and spoke, “Wake up boy.”
Kal’s eyes flew open and he gasped for breath as his mind revolted, and his injuries screamed.
“Who’s there?!” Kal yelled, searching the area around him. He couldn’t see anything, wherever he was it was pitch black. He tried to move but all it did was make him almost scream in pain.
“Hello?” he said while feeling around with his left arm. His right was pinned by something and he didn’t want to just yank on it. He flung open his status.
Health:
3/450
Stamina:
327/630
Wrath:
0
Ah single digit health, how I didn’t miss you. At least he had a bit over half his stamina back, apparently falling off a cliff into unconsciousness did wonders for your stamina regeneration. He would have to forget all about that. Kal felt over his body without trying to get up, he didn’t want to risk causing himself any more damage. It didn’t take him long to find the reason for his right arm being pinned. One of the kuroxet’s claws had managed to stay in place while he fell and now it was wedged in a crack in the wall. He felt that he could probably yank it out but it was too risky for now. Kal almost leaped out of his skin a moment later when whatever he was lying on moved and emitted a frail whine muffled by the ground. Perfect! Kal reached down with his good arm and felt around for the kuroxet’s neck. When he found it he grabbed hold hard and yanked it out from under him, careful not to move his trapped arm. It was going to be hard to mutilate the thing and get the bonus Wrath but he needed to try, so Kal shifted his grip and started flailing the creature against the stone wall.
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*Crack*
Mutilation Bonus Awarded
*Crack*
Mutilation Bonus Awarded
You have slain [Kuroxet | Abyss Spawn 8] - Bonus experience award for defeating a higher leveled entity.
Kal activated his regeneration and suffered through the pain. It felt like it hurt more when he wasn’t fighting, the healing wasn’t exactly fast but it had certainly kept him alive in that last fight. It likely wouldn’t work out that way if he was fighting something bigger but the kuroxet seemed to lack the lethality as long as you kept them away from your vitals. He waited until the healing had fully stopped before checking his status again. While he waited he listened out for any movement. What was that voice? And the screaming? A few minutes passed and he heard nothing else, speak, whine, or move. Even after all that time, he could barely see, the fall from the plateau was not a straight line. The crack above him seemed to curve in strange ways, barely letting any light down in the place where Kal now lay.
Health:
43/450
Stamina:
459/630
Wrath:
0
His health was still very low but he felt like he could risk freeing his arm now. Standing up was difficult with his arm pinned to the wall, he had to roll as he stood. Placing his arm in an incredibly awkward position. He grabbed the claw with his free hand and pulled it upwards. The claw came free but not without twisting in Kal’s arm causing him to curse before pulling the bloody thing from his arm. He glanced at his health again and he was right to wait, freeing his arm would have reduced him to zero health. He wasn’t exactly sure if that meant he would just die, or if he would just stop being able to function while his injuries eventually killed him.
Perhaps if he ever got the chance he would ask a healer or study his Vital Energy some more. Now that he was free he felt around looking for his club but in the utter darkness of the passage, all he found was more kuroxet and rocks. Kal didn’t want to hang around, he could hear the screams of more of the creatures high above him. Their screams sounded different this time, less of ear piercing shriek and more like a pack of wolves howling into the wind. Not thinking of anything else he could do, Kal started feeling his way through the dark passages beneath the plateau, his left hand keeping contact with the stone wall.
Kal continued like this for hours, the darkness of the passages never lessened during this time. He occasionally had to feel through the open air and search for another section of wall to follow but he had no confidence that he was making any serious progress in finding a way out. He was getting tired. Sure his stamina was full now but that didn’t mean the fatigue of remaining wary and active for that whole didn’t take its toll. He eventually decided to just rest for a time. So he felt his way around to a place at least mostly free of rocks took a seat and rested his back against the passage wall. He found nothing during his time in the passages so he was as comfortable as he could be in a place like this so he rested his eyes.
Kal walked for weeks through the darkness of the passages, his body slowly deteriorating from starvation and infection. Puss oozed from every wound, and he lost feeling in his arm some days ago. He had been forced to feel his way back to corpses of the kuroxet, their bloated bodies fed Kal for a short time but now his stomach rebelled against him along with the rest of his dying body. Gods he was cold. Kal knew he would never escape this place. He would die here like he should have died the moment he denied the heavens ultimate blessing. Kal tripped and fell, his body now frail and diseased finally dying as it should. But then a hand touched Kal’s shoulder from behind, and for the second time, Kal heard the deep voice.
“Ignore the fate binders, Kalum Lesta. You already hold the key to your own survival, do not allow such a petty thing as the will of the gods to lead you astray.”
Kal awoke in a rush and leaped to his feet, his mind spun and he almost fell over as he struggled to remain upright. He was breathing hard and sweating profusely," What the fuck was that?!”
It had all felt so real. He spun around but all he could see was darkness. That voice had woken him again. Until he heard it Kal was convinced he was actually dying. He felt himself weakening more than he ever had before.
If he died in his dream would he have actually died? Or would he have gone insane with despair? As his breathing and the rhythm of his heart slowly returned to normal Kal guessed it was the latter. Even now his wounds felt strange, like they were already oozing with puss and he felt the aches of old hunger. Something he hadn’t felt since the early years of working in the mines. None of it was real though.
He was hungry, sure but not anywhere near that degree. He would eat his shoes before he had to eat a week-old kuroxet. The memory of his dream self biting into the rotted flesh almost made him gag. Relax Kal, it was all fake. So that means the taste of rotting flesh was fake too. Just stop thinking about it. The thought of sleeping had lost all appeal so Kal decided to think about what the voice had said.
What did it mean by, “the key to your own survival?” The only thing Kal had going for him was his Wrathful Regeneration. It helped keep him alive so far but it was useless in this kind of situation. Without things to kill he couldn’t heal his wounds and combat at such low health was incredibly risky. Sure he mostly came away with a small increase in health when it was just one or two of those kuroxet, but it was clear that they like to run in packs. Besides, what if he came across something more dangerous while in such a state? If it was one of the things that left the tear he would be dead already.
No that can’t be what the voice meant. Well at least not all of it. Kal sat down once more but this time he began to meditate. It was time to look more closely at his new core and the changes he had made.