CHAPTER 42: SEED OF CORRUPTION

[You have successfully identified an Artifact!]

An ancient skull belonging to a figure lost to the ages. A powerful soul remains locked within it.

Name: Kafkë, Keeper of Souls

Relic Grade: S

Artifact Properties

Invulnerability I: Kafkë is immune to all physical forms of harm.

Ensouled: Kafkë has a soul and thus, is susceptible to spiritual effects. When defending against hostile spiritual effects, its effective Willpower is 200 plus 1 per percentage of soul energy it has stored with the Well of Souls ability.

Flight: Kafkë may fly though excess weight renders this ability unusable. For the purposes of carrying capacity, its effective Might is 8.

Intelligent: Kafkë has a mind of its own and can use its abilities independent of a user as well as take actions of its own. Its autonomy does allow it to wield Relics that it can manipulate and use. It may use Relics of grade A and below.

Keeper of Souls: Kafkë possesses dominion over soul energy and souls. If Kafkë abilities conflict with any soul-based effect of A-rank or lower, Kafkë automatically wins the conflict. For all other conflicts, Kafkë’s effective Willpower is 200 plus 1 per percentage of soul energy it has stored with the Well of Souls ability.

Magic Resistance III: Kafkë is immune to magic originating from any source below S-rank. This immunity only applies to effects directly targeting Kafkë.

Artifact Abilities

Death Lock: Kafkë expends a large amount of soul energy to lock a willing creature’s soul within its body. If the target dies while the lock is in place, then the body is reanimated and the target becomes an intelligent undead. This ability does nothing to protect the target’s body and soul after the reanimation.

Soul Infusion: Kafkë infuses a living creature with a moderate amount of soul energy causing one of two effects.

1. The target’s body and soul are healed of any wounds and natural ailments. This ability has no effect on S-rank ailments or wounds that resist natural healing.

2. The target’s spirit is strengthened granting them a variable bonus dependent on the individual.

Soul Energy Manipulation: Kafkë may freely manipulate unbound soul energy within 1 kilometer of its location.

Soul Sanctuary: Kafkë anchors itself in a willing creature’s soul by expending a small amount of soul energy and confers its spiritual defenses from Ensouled and Keeper of Souls.

Soul Transfer: Kafkë transfers a willing or unbound soul to a compatible vessel by expending a small amount of soul energy to form a bridge. Warning: Spiritual rejection may occur resulting in the destruction of the transferred soul.

Spirit Travel: Kafkë may travel through any spiritual realm including the souls of willing creatures. In addition, Kafkë may travel to the Well of Souls at will and may expend a small amount of soul energy to bring along a willing soul.

Well of Souls: Kafkë absorbs and stores soul energy from the Well of Souls and recently deceased creatures. This energy fuels some of its abilities.

Soul Energy

0%

Jack chose to identify Kafkë despite the Artifact’s assertion that it had no other abilities of use for the current situation. As it turned out, the skull being inside his body counted as touching for his Relic identification. When the information flooded into his mind, he struggled with equal parts amazement and disappointment. I was hoping I would find something immediately useful but it looks like Kafkë was being genuine. Still… even if there’s nothing to help me right now, there’s so much to unpack here. Just Death Lock might explain how the Twilight King and his guards became undead. Did that happen before or after Bohum scorched Terras? Dammit, I have so many questions but—

A chime echoed through the chamber as he stepped into it piercing his thoughts and sending a shiver down his spine. The same lingering sense of familiarity tickled the edges of his consciousness. Seemingly unaware of the scan that Jack had done of its abilities, Kafkë said, “Keep alive, chief. This’s probably a trap.”

His breathing slowed and his senses sharpened. Kafkë was right. When he walked up to the ledge to look into the rest of the chamber, all thoughts aside from survival vanished.

Even on full alert for an ambush, Jack barely dodged the attack as several hundred pounds of clawed fury impacted his location. The force of the blow collapsed the small section of the ledge on which he stood forcing him to jump down into the lower part of the chamber. He tumbled nearly a dozen feet onto uneven earth. He landed roughly soaking the impact with his Ethos and rolled to the side to put distance between himself and the creature.

Massive luminous stalactites of white crystal painted the room in a tableau of light and shadow. The beast stood on its hind legs, easily over twice Jack’s height. Wicked claws the size of short swords extended from its wide paws while thick white, black, and brown fun covered its entire body. Small beady eyes slowly turned from the ledge to Jack and it sniffed the air. Jack’s heart skipped at the sight of the creature. The close call caused the familiar surge of adrenaline to fill his body as the creature lowered itself from the ledge. Instead of attacking, it sniffed the air again.

He shifted into a more defensive stance but realized that he had dropped his club in the fall. As his eyes scanned the ground, the creature lunged forward like a bullet. Jack dove to the side hitting the ground hard. The creature landed a swipe at the place where he had been and its broad paw easily dug a large furrow into the cavern floor. He swore as he scrambled to his feet. The creature had him on the defensive. He needed to recover. As he weighed his potential avenues of attack, he caught sight of the Dark One.

It stood at the deepest part of the cavern next to a lone stalagmite comprised of yellow crystal and laced with cloudy black veins all over its body. The crystal structure jutted out of the ground, almost as tall the beast on its hind legs. The Dark One had its back to Jack with its hands pressed against the crystal’s surface. Just as he wondered what it was doing, another chime pealed out originating from the stalagmite. Simultaneously, a notification appeared in his mind.

[Objective updated due to information.]

Reassessing Objective priority…

Objective priority escalated to World classification. Attempting to contact the nearest administrator…

Contact failed…

2 Optional Assignments added…

Adding additional information on Seeds of Corruption…

Adding information on Dark Ones…

Access to information of Dark Ones denied. Please contact an administrator for access…

Opening updated Objective summary…

World Objective: Purification of Terras

Unlock Condition: Destroy a Seed of Corruption within Terras

Assignment: Destroy the remaining Seeds of Corruption. (0/3)

Optional Assignment: Stop the Dark One from summoning assistance through the Seed of Corruption. (0:47)

Optional Assignment: Destroy the Dark One Spawn.

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[Seeds of Corruption]

These parasitic creatures serve as siphons and limited gateways for corrupted entities. They integrate with the host world’s infrastructure in order to absorb the world’s vital energies. As a seed feeds on the energy of a world, it grows in size and power. At the early stages of development, they are dangerous but manageable for a user; however, should one reach maturity, immediately contact the nearest administrator.

Shit! What is a World Objective? Why would it deny access to something connected to the objective? Jack’s head throbbed as he processed the update and saw the timed objective. Things just kept getting worse. Whatever the Dark One was doing, it had to be bad. “It’s trying to summon help through that corrupted crystal!”

“What?! You have to stop it! It might be trying to summon more Dark Ones,” Kafkë exclaimed.

“I know, dammit,” he said gritting his teeth in frustration. After quickly adding the timer to the display with his Ethos and Mana, he tried to put space between himself and the creature so he could charge the Dark One. Sadly, his movement spurred the beast into motion. He wasn’t fast enough to dodge completely this time. The claws whipped by his body but the creature’s broad shoulder clipped his chest sending him sprawling.

He recovered quickly and shoved himself along the ground with all his strength, barely dodging a second strike from the brute. He got his feet under him just as the creature hunkered down on all fours. Its nose twitched until its eyes fixed on Jack again. Far too fast for its size, it drew one of its paws across the rough earth in wide scything motion toward his legs. However, he was done defending.

Jack jumped over the creature’s attack and lashed out with a kick driving his heel into its blunt snout. His attack produced a satisfying crunch. Rearing back, the creature released a bestial cry somewhere between a roar and moan. As he touched down, he activated Magician’s Manipulation, painfully aware of his low Mana and the ticking time of his objective. As bad as being mind-controlled was, one good thing had come from the period when the Dark One had manipulated him into attacking Kafkë— he had thought of a new way to use his Skill.

He made a pulling motion toward the earth with his left hand. The key was concentration and visualization; making a physical motion helped with both. The rough stone and dirt under the creature’s two hind legs bucked shattering in a spray of earth. The creature went down with a cacophonous crash as it lost its balance. He instantly deactivated the Skill thus only spending ten Mana. Good, it worked. I can use this in bursts and potentially get a lot more mileage.

Before he could take advantage of the creature’s vulnerability, Kafkë emerged from Jack’s body and flew toward their downed foe. “Go! Get the Dark One before it’s too late!” Jack paused just long enough to witness the skull bite the creature’s snout before darting out of its reach. It cackled at the creature’s agitated cries. “Come get me, you oversized rodent!”

Jack didn’t waste any time. Kafkë was immune to physical harm. Based on what he’d deduced about Terras so far, the beast was most likely a D-rank area boss so the Artifact would be probably fine. Not to mention, he doubted he could beat such a beast in less than a minute by himself. He took off toward the Dark One at full speed. Crossing the large cavern to the stalagmite consumed precious time even while moving at his quickest. He narrowed his focus to the Dark One. He splashed through several small pools of water which littered the cavern floor along with uneven terrain that threatened to throw him off of his balance a few times.

When he finally got within his Skill’s range, he got another nasty surprise. Dozens of dark spikes erupted from the ground impairing his movement. Several nearly impaled him but he refused to relent. Activating Magician’s Manipulation, he punched his fist at the Dark One in an effort to knock it off balance with a burst of air. Nothing happened.

Confused, he checked his Mana and his eyes went wide when none of his stat values were visible. They were completely gone. He mentally summoned his Status yet it never appeared. He stumbled after being thrown off balance by another spike which sliced into his shoulder as though his skin were paper. He hissed in pain hitting the ground on his injured shoulder and wincing from the pain of the impact. What’s going on? My Ethos should’ve at least blocked the impact from the fall. And what’re those spikes? Dammit, I don’t have time for all this bullshit.

Cursing everything from the gods to the Terras, he scrambled to his feet and pressed on toward the Dark One. He suffered more than a few painful wounds from being unable to completely dodge the dark spikes. By the time he reached his destination, dark blue blood dripped from half a dozen cuts and punctures.

His fist, driven by frustration and anger at being made a pincushion, smashed into the side of the Dark One's head. His hand went numb yet rather than being disrupted by the blow, the Dark One’s head twisted unnaturally to the side as though it lacked a spine. That might have been the case because its head turned a full three hundred and sixty degrees and released a billowing breath of dark gas similar to the one it used to attack him in the tunnels. He ducked low and rolled past the dark figure popping back to his feet next to the stalagmite. The gas ate away the earth behind the Dark One leaving only a deep cone-shaped grove in its wake. The power coming off the yellow crystal sent sparks down his spine. In the back of his mind, he wondered about the Artifact he’d sensed; unfortunately, he didn’t have time to stop and search for it.

Unsure of how much time that he had left, he tackled the Dark One grabbing at its torso and attempting to shove it away from the yellow crystal. Its body bent from the push but it didn’t budge. Its head snapped back around but Jack forced his palm under its chin just in time to divert another stream of dark gas into the air. He roared as he exerted every point of Might he had.

In his chest, the Blue Heart came alive for the first time since Bohum’s torture. The nascent World Core whirred loudly in tandem with his racing heart, almost like it was matching his battle cry. A pulse of a primitive emotion surged from the Blue Heart; he recognized it— the will to survive. His veins burned as his blood became volatile sending hissing droplets from his many wounds. The pain cut through the numbness in the areas that were in contact with the Dark One. Finally, the foul creature’s hold broke sending it and Jack tumbling away from the stalagmite.

They landed in a tangle of flailing limbs; both landed several blows before the chaos relented. Jack abandoned defense since his Ethos was somehow inactive and the Dark One could circumvent it even if it were up. Thanks to his experience in life-or-death brawls, he gained the upper hand with the Dark One pinned on its stomach. He rained several savage punches down on the creature’s head driving its face into the earth. It struggled against his onslaught but he kept its body under him. His limbs were starting to feel sluggish from heavy strain and blood loss yet he continued his assault until the creature went limp. A notification flowed into his mind.

Before he could process it, a bestial cry echoed through the cavern and something whizzed by his head impacting the ground a short distance away. He heard the beast’s heavy approach. His breath came in coughing gasps as he pushed off of the Dark One which has started to dissipate into a noxious gas that stung his eyes and throat. Kafkë emerged from a small patch of broken stone where it landed.

“It’s a good thing I can’t feel or that’d have hurt,” the skull said

“Must be nice. Keep that thing distracted,” Jack groaned as he retreated to stand beside the stalagmite. Fortunately, the dark spikes from earlier had ceased, likely because he’d dealt with the Dark One. One glance at the beast relieved some of the tension from his shoulders as he watched Kafkë successfully divert the large animal’s attention by shouting at it and harrying its face. He scanned the cavern for anything that could be the Artifact but the only object of note was the stalagmite in from of him. Turning his attention to the structure, he examined it. Like the Seed of Corruption back at the temple, this one had a clean luster to it though it contrasted with the dark veins which gave it an undeniably ominous look. At the center of the structure, he spied a gleaming sliver of something distinctly unlike the rest of the yellow crystal. That’s probably the Artifact, but I have to make sure. I don’t want to have repeat of last time I tried to identify one of these things.

He concentrated and tried to activate his Relic detection.

Once again, nothing happened.

As he prepared to send curses up high for being forsaken, a calm, even voice filled the air. Each word it spoke drove the cold certainty of defeat deeper into Jack’s mind. “The Eternal Light will reveal all.”

“Fuck it,” he muttered, tired and battered. He’d willingly walked into this mess so he’d see it through. With a vicious wind-up, he drove a hook straight into the center of the crystal structure with his uninjured arm, following through with all the torque his core muscles could manage. For the briefest of moments, a foreign presence tugged at his mind like the first time he came into contact with a Seed of Corruption. Sadly for it, Jack didn’t have time to mingle. His fist, covered in metallic flesh and backed by reinforced bones from the Blue Heart’s transformation, smashed through the stalagmite like a hammer through glass. He hardly felt the jagged shards that scraped along his skin, unable to break through it. The presence disappeared as fast as it came and his hand closed around the sliver. He tore it from its crystal nest.

Instantly, two notifications manifested at the forefront of his mind.

[Warning: You have accessed a corrupted Artifact!]

Name: Dark Maker’s Key

Relic Grade: Unknown

[Error: Activation protocol failed due to Logos corruption. Please contact the nearest system administrator.]

[Warning: Restricted transfer detected!]

Attempting to abort transfer…

Abortion failed. Attempting to contact the nearest administrator…

Contact failed…

[Transfer initiated.}

A whimper of fear trickled from the Blue Heart and then, Kafkë, the beast, and everything else disappeared.

***

Kafkë wove around another of the creature’s attacks and headbutted one of its eyes. The skull laughed as the beast howled in anger. “You’ll have to do better than that!”

Obviously, it couldn’t understand speech but Kafkë’s taunts served to give it a target for its anger. The creature had incredibly poor vision so it primarily used its sense of smell and hearing. Fortunately for Kafkë, it also wasn’t very intelligent.

The Keeper of Souls flew a bit higher to avoid a flurry of furious swipes. It shouted at the giant furball again but a calm voice drowned out its words.

“The Eternal Light will reveal all.”

Quick as an arrow, Kafkë shot toward Jack. Before Bohum even finished speaking, the blue man punched a hole in the stalagmite and ripped something out of it. The yellow crystal’s shine dulled but Jack was looking at the object in his hand. Barely a second later, a violent explosion of force flung Kafkë higher where it nearly collided with the luminous stalactites. The skull righted itself mid-air and searched for Jack.

He was gone. A feeling of abject despair pierced the last feeling vestiges of its soul as it failed to find the man. Oh no… I really messed up…

Brilliant light enveloped everything and Kafkë traveled to the Well of Souls, its mind heavy with defeat.