Wave: 2
Time: 26 days, 3 hours, 27 minutes, 32 seconds
It took Kal longer than he would have liked to find another dark serpent. He was starting to wonder if he had already killed most of them, the system’s notification had mentioned that the additional demons entering the trial were unlikely to get directly involved. Something to do with planar stability or something like that. Did that mean there were also limits on how many demons could enter from their conduits? Probably, but surely he hadn’t killed enough to lower their numbers that much. They were probably up to something. The dark serpents were much more intelligent than the garghounds, who seemed to just charge at him and die, except for his last encounter with them when they had several nobles in command.
[Seeker Dark Serpent | Abyss Spawn 44]
When he finally found one, Kal didn’t engage immediately. This one wasn’t behaving like the others. Instead of patrolling the mists like the rest, this one was coiled up and apparently sleeping which was surprising to Kal. He hadn’t seen a single creature sleep since he had gotten to the abyss and unlike the others, it wasn’t highlighted by his killing sense. It immediately made him wary, so he scanned the surrounding mists, swapping as best he could between looking through the abyssal mana and the shadow mana. When he flicked over to view the surrounding shadow mana, basically turning off his filtered mana sight he was struck by how incredibly dense it was here. The mist here was utterly black and it made him stumble slightly as his brain suddenly lost sense of his orientation.
He quickly filtered out the shadow mana again and concentrated on the dark serpent, looking through only the abyssal mana range. That's when Kal noticed something very familiar. All around the serpent, the abyssal mana swirled in a vortex, reminding Kal immediately of the entrance to Mira’s bunker. The mana swirled around the serpent before finally sinking into the creature's scales. Since it still hadn’t noticed him, their perception definitely being one of their lowest attributes Kal continued to study the flow of mana around the demon. He tried to slowly reintroduce the shadow mana back into his vision just enough so he could see what was going on around the serpent. He could still only see roughly forty feet away with his new filtered mana sight and his control was rough. He could either see through that area or be blinded by the shadow mana, with very little in between.
If he was going to be able to see any real difference in what was happening with the shadow mana he needed to get closer so he could concentrate on a smaller space. I guess now’s a good time to try out the scales, Kal thought as he started creeping his way towards the serpent. He honestly didn’t think his rough scale cloak would do anything but they were clearly as blind as he was in the shadow mana, well at least in the traditional way.
Kal continued to be surprised by the demon's atrocious perception as he got within fifteen feet of it without it reacting at all. What kind of seekers are these if they can’t find a damned thing? Of course, this was just a single variant but he would have thought that seeker meant they were at least good at hunting. It didn’t matter, he could find out what the seeker part of their name meant another day. Now that he was closer he tried to refocus his mana sight again, but to his surprise, it was even harder. The moment he tried to inspect the shadow mana it was like he was thrown into a tar pit, his vision completely leaving him.
What was going on here? Why was the shadow mana so dense here? He flicked between his abyssal and shadow sights again a few times before it made sense. The dark serpent was converting the abyssal mana into shadow mana. Kal felt a bit stupid once he realized it. But to his defense, he couldn’t really see what was going on at all besides the vortex of abyssal mana being absorbed into the serpent. He had wondered what other skills the dark serpents had since the only one he was sure they had was a way to conceal themselves in the mists. Of course, it would make sense if they could create the mists as well.
The two skills would of course work perfectly together and as long as nothing with the ability to navigate through mist and shadow mana they could easily handle anything they came across. Besides Kal of course.
The skill must be fairly efficient Kal figured since the sheer amount of mist being produced must take a lot of mana. If only he could see how the conversion was being done, maybe then he could implement it in some way to how he siphoned wrath. But with the density of the shadow mana that was impossible for now, besides he had wasted enough time. It was time to test out his new skill and gain as many levels as he could.
Health:
1354/2000
Stamina:
3400/3400
Wrath:
1102
He hadn’t bothered regenerating his wounds yet since for the most part they were just bruises and scrapes. Sure just a week ago they would have killed him but now they were nothing to his endurance and vitality. Kal thought whether he should spend his wrath in case the amount gained from Slayer’s Intent was enough to overwhelm him but since the description said that it was only a small amount he didn’t think he needed to worry.
Readying his battered sword Kal activated Slayer’s Intent and felt a sudden burning in his eyes as they focused tightly on the dark serpent.
Slayer’s Intent - Activated
[Entity Marked: Dark Serpent - Neutral]
Kal waited expecting the wrath to start flowing in but after about five seconds another notification appeared.
Slayer’s Intent - Deactivated
Kal frowned, “what the fuck!?”
Annoyed, Kal went to activate the skill again but a sudden flash of red made him discard the thought and raise his arms as the serpent finally noticed him and lashed out with a powerful strike from its huge tail. Kal sighed as he was battered away, his arms aching from the shock. The serpent now glowed red like the others he had seen, making Kal guess his killing sense was more complicated than he thought. It was about time the serpent noticed him honestly but now he had to figure out Slayer’s Intent in combat.
Fighting the slow dark serpents was a relatively easy task as long as they believed he was blind. When that was the case they tended to try and toy with him and not go all out from the beginning. But it was difficult to keep up that illusion for long while also dealing decent damage and this time the serpent seemed to catch on fast and immediately attacked again with a fang strike. As he had done for the last few kills Kal activated his Wrath Incarnate to help him defend against the coming blow. The massive amplification of his strength and endurance was enough that he could often deflect or take the blow with minimal damage. But as always, the skill was expensive to activate without discount from its fear effect, and the urge to dive into a reckless offensive was strong. Luckily his control with skill was strong enough to disable it before his tactics changed.
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Catching the serpent's fangs on his sword and twisting it into a pommel strike against the side of its head, Kal knocked the serpent to the side giving him the time and space to try and activate Slayer’s Intent again. Like before he felt the slight burning in his eyes as the skill activated but this time he saw that the red glow that highlighted the serpent brightened slightly as the skill took hold.
Slayer’s Intent - Activated
[Entity Marked: Dark Serpent - Hostile]
Kal felt the difference immediately as the skill actually worked this time. Without looking Kal could already feel his wrath growing slowly, but along with came a few things. First was that his birthright had become more noticeable than usual, almost like when he activated Wrath Incarnate but much less overwhelming. It was an increase in rhythm and aggression, and the thoughts of his darker self carried through to his mind, encouraging him to kill. Calling him to action. The second thing Kal noticed was another rhythm that was distinctly different from his birthright’s. Concentrating on it was difficult, as the moment he did his thoughts darkened. Pathetic. He dragged his thoughts back into his control as he leaped over another tail strike. What was he sensing? Was it the serpent's intent? Yes, that was right, it had to be. In drawing it into himself to fuel his wrath generation of course he would be able to sense it within him. His birthright’s aggression leaking into his thoughts was concerning but manageable. Next, he had to see how much wrath the skill was generating.
Health:
1303/2000
Stamina:
3254/3400
Wrath:
1111
Kal’s eyes widened when he saw that his wrath was higher than it was before he used Wrath Incarnate, and before his eyes, he saw it increase again.
Health:
1303/2000
Stamina:
3254/3400
Wrath:
1155
Forty-four points per second, apparently he got the target level in wrath every second. It didn’t sound like much but in a one-on-one fight, it was a tremendous boost. It meant that he could activate his Wrath Incarnate intermittently with barely any cost. He could even keep it active for significantly longer. Kal couldn’t help but grin as he watched it continue to climb.
Health:
1303/2000
Stamina:
3254/3400
Wrath:
1199
Health:
1303/2000
Stamina:
3254/3400
Wrath:
1243
“Well, there’s no reason to take this slow anymore..” Kal chuckled before his face became a grim sneer as he activated Wrath Incarnate as the serpent came at him again with a fang strike. Not careless of the risk and quite aware of additional resources granted by Slayer’s Intent, pushed by the savagery of his soul Kal spun around the serpent’s head slamming his blade into its eye and activating Flames of Wrath with his left hand spreading the flames across its bleeding eye and down his sword deep into its head. The serpent reared back and hissed in pain, Kal still hanging on to his blade feeding flames into its head.
The serpent shook hard making Kal lose grip and fall but leaving a horrendous wound as his sword hacked through the side of his jaw on his way down. Kal let Wrath Incarnate drop as the serpent recovered.
Health:
1303/2000
Stamina:
3254/3400
Wrath:
1032
Health:
1303/2000
Stamina:
3254/3400
Wrath:
1076
To say Kal was happy with his new skill was a vast understatement. It was a game changer for his ability to fight singular enemies. He was about to activate Wrath Incarnate again but paused as the serpent focused on him again, the red aura brightening drastically and the weaker rhythm he could sense grew significantly.
[Entity Marked: Dark Serpent - Enraged]
Health:
1303/2000
Stamina:
3254/3400
Wrath:
1164
Kal’s face broke into a grin. The wrath he was generating every second had doubled, giving him eighty-eight per second. He knew why, the aggression and power he could sense made it obvious. Its anger was nothing compared to his- his birthright’s but the closer it got the more they resonated. Kal’s darker thoughts trickled through, It is nothing, it should die, how dare it challenge me! To kill is My Right!
The serpent charged towards him as Kal smiled, through the connection he could feel that his expression infuriated it, bringing its fury ever higher. Seeing no reason to go all out now that his wrath was growing at its current rate, Kal let his Flames of Wrath run over his sword and arms as he activated Wrath Incarnate once again.
It was time to kill and now he wouldn’t stop until the seeker shadow was dead.