Uther and Damemnos traveled eastward along the river. Based on what the little kraken had described earlier as to where he took Uther, the doomed had reasoned a couple things. First, Damemnos had taken them west. Being that they had gone down river and using the sun’s location relative to where they’d gone, west was the only logical direction.
Second, they were no longer in the Nilelands Empire. The empire’s homeland was a mostly desert, the notable exception being the ancient Nile River that nearly went across its entirety. Around the large river was lush forests and trees, but it only spanned maybe a mile or two on each side. So, the “jungle” part of the empire was severely limited. Even then, it was still quite dry according to the couple times Uther had been there.
Where they were at now was very humid with the forest being extremely dense. With that plus no sign of civilization whatsoever during their current half-hour of movement, Uther had reasoned that they were in the Okar rainforest. It was a large jungle on the same continent as the empire, but directly south of it. It was so large that it spanned two different oceans and served as a buffer between the empire to the north and the Zulu Nation to the south.
Uther had been hired to hunt in these lands more than once and he gave a small smile as familiar bird sounds and floral scents struck his senses.
“Why are you smiling, Uther?” Damemnos asked, looking at him curiously.
“I know where we are. It’s probably the best spot we could have ended up,” he replied.
Damemnos wiggled his tentacles up and down excitedly, “Then I did well, Uther? Where are we now?”
“I’d say so,” Uther replied as he scanned their surroundings. “We’re in the Okar rainforest. It’s a wild place, and while technically under the empire’s control, its grip on the place is very minimal. Most of it is untamed with little civilization, but there is a large central metropolis. That’s where the empire’s presence is greatest. I believe we’re more towards the coast. That’s both to our detriment and advantage.”
“How come?” The little kraken asked.
“Well, since we’re away from the empire, that means it’ll be less likely for them to find us. However, since there are no port cities and only a sparse few imperial barracks stationed along the coastlines, it may be hard for us to find a way to get a ship and get to safety,” the doomed explained.
“What shall we do then, Uther?” Damemnos asked.
“This place is very place is very dangerous. There are uncountable deadly beasts here, so we have to be careful. Luckily, I’m versed in avoiding unnecessary fights in wild places. Getting to the coast is still our best bet. From there, we’ll go south until we reach the Zulu Nation or find an imperial barracks. If we get to the Zulu Nation, we’ll buy a ship. If we find a barracks..we’ll secure a ship through other means.”
They continued on their trek for another thirty minutes. Uther was surprised to see the little kraken not needing to be in water constantly for moisture and that he could breathe air. From the doomed’s experiences hunting creatures most marine creatures, aside from mammals and reptiles, are completely water-dependent. When he asked Damemnos about it, the little kraken shrugged and said he was not sure why he could breathe air, only just that he now discovered that ability when he saved Uther. The hunter reasoned it was likely due to Damemnos now being a patron.
As they followed the river, they had to make a detour around a rather large tree. It was there, that a shadow loomed over them. Uther’s training kicked into effect as he recognized the speed at which the light dimmed above him was unnatural. He leaped to the left just in time to miss a large serpent plummet down where he had been.
The creature recoiled from the failed attempt and quickly gathered itself. Uther turned to see that it was no mere snake. The reptile was at least twenty feet long, mostly green with some brown mixed in, and had two short arms equipped with three wicked-looking claws. On instinct, he activated Odin’s Eye, or he tried to. He gasped as he remembered he no longer had the ability. His momentary confusion nearly cost him his life as the beast lunged at him with its fangs.
Uther ducked at the last moment, and the reptile bit the tree behind him in two with one bite.
“Uther, I suggest you fight this thing. You promised to keep me safe,” Damemnos said, a tich of nervousness in his detached voice.
“I’m working on it,” Uther answered through his gritted teeth. This time, he activated Mark Prey on his foe. A red silhouette of the ambush predator formed in Uther’ vision. He then lowered his trident and thrust it forward, striking the beast in part of its coiled body. While Uther’s Trident subskill was only level one, his Polearms skill definitely was not. The weapon bit deep into the reptile’s flesh, aided by Mark Prey’ five percent damage boosting effect.
The creature hissed in pain and went to eviscerate the doomed with a clawed hand. Uther pulled out his trident and parried the strike with remarkable ease. His newfound strength caused him to overstep, and he ended up stumbling forward. The serpent capitalized on the misstep and went to bite Uther in half.
“Look out!” Damemnos shouted.
As Uther landed on the ground, he rolled and swung his spear wildly at the incoming opponent. He managed to strike it in the head, making it miss and recoil in pain. It allowed Uther to get to his feet and properly evaluate the fight. He scowled. Uther was much stronger and faster than before, but he felt like a kid stumbling about, unused to their own capabilities.
“Why aren’t you using your new abilities?” Damemnos asked.
“My what?” Uther asked back, not taking his eyes off the strange half-snake creature.
“Your new abilities. I could tell you tried to use some sort of identification ability before. Why aren’t you using Eye of the Kraken?” The small cephalopod asked, his voice returning to the detached neutral tone that Uther was used to.
At Damemnos’s words, Uther wanted to slap himself. He was fighting this creature as if he were a lancer still. Though he had every intention of becoming a Fettore once again, Uther knew he had to approach this fight differently than before. He knew the two new spells and one new ability he’d acquired. Forming a pact with Damemnos made Uther instinctively know about the basics of each of them.
Gazing firm at the reptile as it sized him up, Uther activated Eye of the Kraken.
Name: Vice Constrictor
Tier: 0
Race: Beast Type: Reptile
Pact Status: None
Pools & Resistances
Health: 62/100
Mana: 20/20
Stamina: 65/80
Your eye has revealed to you the truth of this being. It is an ambush predator and highly-specialized to be one. As such, it does not favor prolonged combat. The scales of its face and mouth softer to allow for more pliable movement.
Uther inhaled in surprise at the information given to him. This identification ability was similar to Odin’s Eye, but there were some key differences. First, Uther had access to the target’s pools. To be able to identify an opponent’s health, mana, and stamina was a rare and powerful boon.
Second, was the description. Uther wasn’t sure if it was his years of training to identify weaknesses, but Eye of the Kraken seemed to incorporate that to do the work for him. His trident had already pierced through the tough scales of the constrictor’s tail. If its face’s scales were softer, it was an obvious weak spot. Reaching deep inside himself, Uther closed his eyes as he grasped the information about his newfound magic now ingrained into his soul.
The serpent saw this as an opportunity and lunged at the hunter. Before it could reach him however, Uther’s eyes snapped open.
“Ebyssian Grasp!” From underneath the constrictor, a large black tentacle emerged. It wrapped around the reptile’s mouth, closing it shut and halting its momentum completely. It growled and tried to pull away, exposing the underside of its chin. Uther used that opening and thrusted his trident into that area. It struck with ease and the weapon bit deep. There was an audible “click,” and the beast’s body went limp on his weapon.
Uther felt his weapon pulse once. He watched it drink in the beast’s blood. It traveled into the tips of the weapon and then out of the back of it. The blood traveled on Uther’s left hand, guided by the trident’s magic. Then, seamlessly, the blood was absorbed into Uther’s body, and its lifeforce was his in a matter of moments.
Goosebumps ran across Uther’s flesh as he looked his new weapon. He was both shocked and surprised as to what happened. Uther then remembered his spear, before it was turned into a trident, was enchanted. With so much change that had happened so quickly, he had forgotten to analyze his new weapon.
Eye of the Kraken.
Name: Hysteric Hemogorger
Type: Item – Weapon (Enchanted)
Quality: Excellent
Rarity: Fabled
Damage: 25-40
Effect:
· Works in tandem with those who possess the Occultist Class or the Hunter profession.
· +10% Damage to target previously allected by the “Mark Prey” ability.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
· Sanguinous Healing has now warped to Sanguine Progenitor-With every new type of enemy this trident slays, it takes the blood of its victims and gives the wielder 1 point of Vitality. Target must have blood for enchantment to activate.
· 25% chance to cause Hysteria debuff for 5 seconds when striking with the butt of the weapon
· +5% Damage to any target previously struck by an Eldritch Magic spell within the past 60 seconds
Description: Crafted and enchanted by a skilled elven smith, bathed in the boiled heart that belonged to a vampire bonded to the Vampire God himself, and warped by the eldritch magic of a kraken patron. This weapon is truly one of a kind. It can only be used by an Occultist or Hunter. Be warned, anyone not versed in Eldritch Magic can be negatively affected by using this weapon. The magic permeating the trident can be corrosive to those not proficient in it.
“Whoa,” Uther said in appreciation. His spear was already amazing, but what Damemnos did was…incredible! To have a weapon be able to give permanent stat boons was something that nations would literally go to war over. The warning at the bottom was definitely ominous though. He then decided to check his remaining notifications
Tier 0.25 Vice Constrictor defeated!
You gain 47 Experience (50 – 3 experience sent to your patron)
Experience to next level 47/100
Sanguine Progenitor Activated
-Vice Constrictor
Uther breathed a sigh of relief. He removed his weapon and the tentacle made of magic darkness faded away, causing the constrictor’s body to fall limp. Patrons and beings aside from people had a different ranking system altogether and that was the Tier System. Uther didn’t know much about it only that beings at tier one and above are patron level and that tier zero has a very wide range.
It was odd to Uther but between zero and one, there were three other tier levels. They were point-two-five, point-five, and point-seven-five. He just stood there in a bit of a daze. Uther had hunted a tier point-two-five vice constrictor before. It was back in not long after he’d been inducted into the Fettore. He had actually ambushed the ambush predator, trapping the constrictor and allowing him to defeat it.
Still, even then, it hadn’t been as easy at what he’d just experienced. When Uther had used his lance, it took multiple strikes to pierced the constrictor’s scaled hide. Sure, during this fight, Uther had been nearly bit in two, but he was able to penetrate even the more tough scales with ease. Is this the power of a being pact-wielder? He thought.
Uther looked over to the small kraken still on his shoulder.
Damemnos looked back at him, the small kraken’s tentacles wriggling up and down in what Uther was now understanding to be a sign of happiness. “It’s as I said. You are strong,” the kraken affirmed.
Uther gave a small smile despite himself. Damemnos was right. He was strong, at least he was much stronger now. Uther still had mixed feelings at having a monster as a patron despite that the kraken appeared to be the extreme rarity to actually be a “kind” monster. For the moment though, he put that discomfort away. Like it or not, he needed this power until he could prove his innocence to Skjoldheim.
Uther took a moment to actually pull up his two new spells’ and one new ability’s information. He knew their details on an instinctual level through his pact, but he felt it would be wise to examine the information about them given by the System.
Eye Of The Kraken
Type: Ability
Cost: 1 Mana
Cooldown: Instant
Duration: Instant
Effect: Infuse mana into your right eye to allow you to analyze both beings and items. Krakens’ inherent mastery of the Eldritch, grants you to be able to be able to passively see past most illusions with direct line-of-sight within fifty feet. Allows you to see through solid objects within twenty feet of sight upon focus.
Ebyssian Grasp
Type: Spell
Cost: 20 Mana
Cooldown: 15 seconds
Duration: 10 seconds
Effect: Summon a magic tentacle made from Eldritch Magic. The conjured tentacle is in sync with your will and will act accordingly.
Mind Spike
Type: Spell
Cost: 15 Mana
Cooldown: 30 seconds
Duration: 5 seconds
Effect: Send forth a transparent bolt of eldritch power targeted toward a creature’s mind.
Does 1/3(n) damage where n is Will + Intellect. Current damage: 14
Has a 10% chance to stun opponents with a lower Intellect statistic than you for a period of 2 seconds
It was good to have more objective information about his newly acquired powers. Both Ebyssian Grasp and Mind Spike appeared more utilitarian in nature, but Uther did notice that Mind Spike did cause damage and had a great bonus possibility to stun an opponent. With an Intellect score currently of eight though, it made him realize that most opponents wouldn’t fall victim to that. Uther then smiled as he looked down at the dead constrictor. Beasts don’t have that high an Intellect most of the time. He thought.
He then heard some grunting and growls in the distance. Uther gripped his trident a little harder, his heart raced a little in excitement. He wanted to go forth and pursue whatever quarry was out there.
“Shouldn’t we run, Uther?” Damemnos asked, a bit of nervousness evident in his voice. “We need to keep safe.”
Uther felt his patron’s words, and even more so, the small kraken’s feelings and emotions with the creature’s words. Uther was hit with flashes of memories, of the fresh pain and loss the small being had just went through. Damemnos was scared, and wanted to avoid fighting as much as possible. Wordlessly, Uther raised his spear back up and sighed.
“Damemnos?”
“Yes, Uther?”
“I’m sorry,” the doomed said. “You’ve gone through a lot. I don’t-I don’t want to put you through any more painful memories, but we have to fight. We made a pact to keep each other safe, right?”
“Correct.”
“Well, we can’t do that unless I get stronger. Like it or not, we’ve made some powerful enemies. I need to become powerful enough to defeat them. What better way to make a hunter stronger than to hunt?”
The one-eyed kraken wriggled his tentacles from side-to-side as he thought. Eventually, Damemnos’s visage calmed and his appendages relaxed. “Your reasoning is..understandable. Still, I ask that there be no needless violence, only fight things that are a threat to us and are safety.”
“Sounds reasonable.” Uther answered.
“Good, then I just have one more question.”
“Name it.”
Damemnos looked away in..embarassment? Uther could more “understand” versus actually reading the small monster’s expression. “Will you teach me to hunt?”
Uther was taken aback by the small monster’s question. He had never taken on a pupil before officially. He was also torn as to how he could teach the tentacled creature the nuances of his profession. “I can certainly try,” he said. “Let me get more comfortable with these new powers first, and then I can focus on teaching you. Sound good?”
“Indeed.” Damemnos happily replied.
Uther entered stealth and began to quietly move towards the grunting noises in the distance. After carefully moving through tall grass and going from tree to tree, he found the source of the noises. There, fighting over a carcass of a small unrecognizable beast, were two bipedal creatures covered in a light layer of thin, brown and green feathers. They stood about four feet tall, had small tapered heads full of sharp teeth, and a large curved serrated claw on each of their feet.
Uther used Eye of the Kraken.
Name: Jungle Raptor
Tier: 0
Race: Beast Type: Reptile
Pact Status: None
Pools & Resistances
Health: 30/30
Mana: 10/10
Stamina: 110/120
Your eye has revealed to you the truth of this being. These beasts are deadly and fast. Where they don’t have brute strength and durability, they make up for in pure speed and pack tactics.
Uther had seen creatures like the raptors before. They were remarkably smart and while dangerous on their own, they were absolutely deadly in groups. It was just as Eye of the Kraken had found. Uther previous history coupled with that information, and allowed him to form a strategy. The raptors were glass cannons, and Ronnie’s words rang in Uther’s head “Strike first. Strike fast. Strike last.”
Uther quickly crept forward until he was only a couple yards away, making sure to be downwind to not expose his location. He activated Ebyssian Grasp once more. Both the raptors dropped the chunk of meat and cried out in surprise. The black tentacle wrapped around the body of the one farther from Uther. It flailed and began to claw and struggle at the magic construct.
Before its ally could join in, Uther used his other new spell, Mind Spike. A bolt of magic formed right in front of Uther’s head. He could tell it was transparent, but his new right eye was able to notice the silhouette without trouble. As soon as it fully formed, the spell shot forward and struck the nearer raptor in the back of the head.
The beast stumbled forward, then it stopped right in its tracks. Uther knew at that moment that the ability to stun had luckily kicked in. Uther seized the chance and leaped out from the tall grass. He thrusted his trident straight into the chest of the stunned raptor, right in the chest. Warm blood shot out and coated the weapon liberally. The creature let out a small grunt, before it fell to the ground, dead. Just as Uther dislodged his weapon, the first raptor had managed to finally clawed and torn through the magic tentacle.
Ebyssian grasp faded into nothing, and the raptor reoriented on the hunter. It spread out its claws and let out an angry hiss.
Uther reoriented his weapon to the raptor, the trident dripping with its comrade’s lifeblood. They were a mere ten feet from each other and could wound the other in the blink of an eye.
Clearly wanting to be out of the line of fire, Damemnos hid back in Uther’s cloak.
Before the cooldowns for Uther’s previous two spells had let up, the raptor leapt at the doomed. Its feet soared out first, the wickedly curved toe claws poised to pierce the hunter’s flesh.
While Uther had lost his Spears subskill and half of his Polearms level, Polearms was still at level thirteen. Plus, Uther had other skills to support it. The primary two: Light Armor and Dodge. The hunter threw himself to the right and was narrowly able to avoid being pinned down by the raptor. Still, he wasn’t fast enough to come out unscathed from the reptile
A section of Uther’s left arm, a part that wasn’t as armored and well protected, was cut from the raptor’s claws. Blood started to flow down Uther’s arm from the lacerations. He sucked in a breath through bared teeth and then activated the subskill Sweep. Before the raptor could strike again, the side of the heavy trident struck across at its left ankle. It shattered bone and literally knocked the beast off its feet.
The cooldown for Ebyssian Grasp had elapsed and Uther used it again to keep the raptor in place. The prone reptile flailed about uselessly against his conjured tentacle. Without a moment’s hesitation, Uther plunged his trident into its chest. The raptor’s eyes went wide as it let out a pained gasp before its life left it.
Once more, Uther watched Hysteric Hemogorger as it drink in the beast’s blood. The blood eventually traveled up Uther’s left arm, guided by the trident’s magic and then rested on his wounds. He gave out a subtle sigh as he grew in Vitality and therefore his ability to regenerate health quicker. Once he finished recovering, he looked at his remaining notifications.
Tier 0 Jungle Raptor defeated x2!
You gain 57 Experience (70 – 3 experience sent to your patron)
Level Up!
You’ve reached Level 2! (Experience to next level: 17/200)
As a doomed, you gain 1 in Agility, 1 in Discernment, 1 in Dexterity, 1 in Perception, 1 in Will, and 1 in Luck.
As an Occultist, you gain 5 in Intellect, 2 in Discernment, and 2 in Will
As a Hunter, you gain 3 in Perception and 3 in Fortitude
Sanguine Progenitor Activated
-Jungle Raptor
Trident has reached Level 2!
Sweep has reached Level 8!
Polearms has reached Level 14!
Eldritch Magic has reached Level 2!
Uther nearly choked on his own tongue at what he read. Just by gaining one level, he had acquired twenty-one new stat points. While knowledge of pact-wielders ability to gain stats and levels was closely guarded, Uther never thought the amount would be so large. It just showed how much wider the gap pact wielders held over bond wielders and unbound.
Both bond wielders and unbound can gain stats, but since they don’t have access to the leveling aspect of the system, they were clearly at a major disadvantage. By growing to level two, Uther now understood. The doomed also realized just how lucky he had been to have been able to kill a patron when he was just a mere unbound apprentice. He had been monumentally fortunate to have been able to deal the finishing blow all those years ago.
Damemnos climbed out from within Uther’s cloak. He examined the dead raptors then looked to Uther, “Do you feel more comfortable with your new powers, Uther?”
The doomed gave a wide grin, “Oh, yeah. I can get used to this. Now, it’s time for your Hunter training.”