Ren continued in the unending dark caverns of the Underdark. Where it seemed to finally open up, there would be another cavern that ended up tight and confusing. When the endless paths seemed to come to a halt, a small entrance to another appeared in a corner behind a large stone formation. Like this, the continuation of the Underdark seemed truly an unending maze.
The need for water continued to gnaw at him after his healing process had ended. In less time than it would have taken him to sleep for a night, his body had restored itself while he was in a slumber so light a gentle breeze or the sound of a cricket could have awoken him.
The tell-tale signs of the ants had continued as well. The tunnels were no less often bored through as they were beforehand. Though the presence of the insects had greatly trailed off. After having fought through the guardian, he had seen little to no more of the massive ants.
While glad to not be attacked, he felt that he was missing out on the combat experience, and the chance to use his new powers. Though, his few encounters since the guardian had netted him another level.
Congratulations Eldritch Rouge Lv 11
+5 Dexterity +2 Willpower +2 Vitality +2 Intelligence +7 Freepoints
Utilizing his free points, he increased his strength, for it fell off compared to his other stats. Nearly half the value of his second lowest stats, he upped it by five points, though the final two went into vitality, increasing his damage resistance.
Name: Ren
Race: Human
Alignment: C/N
Class: Rouge
level 11, Tier 2
Skill: Ritualism
Marks: Gate-Walker
HP:140/140 SP:110/110 MP:130/130
Attributes:
Str: 19
Vit: 28
End: 22
Dex: 48
Wil: 27
Int: 26
Free Points: 0
Even with the strength he had gotten, his body began to feel heavier as every part of his body seemed made of lead. Though he felt weakened, his physicality was still far beyond the scope of any normal human. Miles passed within the darkness faster than any human could have in his own world.
A circle within the tunnels took him to a wide opening where ants appeared voraciously searching for something. Feeling weak, he hesitated to enter combat, watching them from afar while using his stealth ability.
Cavern Guardian Lvl 15
Cavern Guardian Lvl 16
Cavern Hunter Lvl 17
Cavern Soldier Lvl 13
Cavern Soldier Lvl 12
Seeing the level, and quantity of the ants, he knew his chances of victory would be slim if he were to fight them. Instead, he continued his study of the creatures. In particular, he watched the strongest amongst them, the Cavern Hunter.
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The insect seemed powerful; its build was even smaller than one of the worker’s. What it did not lack was the ability to render flesh, as he saw its mandibles twitching around in the air as its antennae went wild. The insects were looking for something, and that was when Ren saw it.
Within one of the holes dug by the workers, mycelium roots twisted and amassed around the corpses of several ants. A large gooey organ was smashed in the cavern that appeared to have been torn from one of the ants.
With great curiosity Ren looked at the fluids that leaked from the organ and noticed that it was what was causing the guardian ant to go mad with its antennae.
She had torn it from an ant and laid it as a trap behind her, or rather to attract all ants there to clear her path ahead. Maybe, she had intended both things. Ren was not sure, but this was in fact terrible for him either way.
He heard skittering in the distance from the cavern he had come from. The lack of ants in the prior cavern system was made clear to him. The one he tracked was baiting them in to cause the caverns to be cleared for passing through unharmed, or less so at least. It was a terribly disgusting, yet terribly effective strategy. The only problem was, Ren was now trapped.
The skittering in the distance only echoed louder. He made his decision. Fleeing would have been quite unless, as the ants would likely be coming from any and all side tunnels to meet here at this junction, if he could get through it before others arrived, he could still track her. If he ran to a side tunnel, he could quite likely lose her.
With an eldritch empowered sneak attack, he fired four bullets into the hunter. It quickly died as the backlash tore at Ren. His body had become more resilient as he ascended, yet the corruption still tore through him. To kill something beyond his own strength, a price was to be paid.
Eldritch horror was building as he released two more shots from the revolver, both powered by a heavy dose of eldritch touch. The weakest of the soldiers was heavily damaged by the twin strikes. Black veins spread across its body as death slowly followed.
Two guardians and a soldier remained. Ren attempted to summon six more shots and reload as he retreated. The guardians dashed at him quickly gaining ground. It was a shame he could not learn the hunter’s fighting style for the future, but he was glad he at least knew how to deal with the remaining insects.
The revolver’s cylinder snapped into place as the two guardians slammed towards him.
A mandible severed into his arm as he blasted the firearm into its mouth. Several rounds pierced into its head, only two of them empowered by eldritch touch. The guardian pulled back from the shots at its head and black veins began to slowly eat away at it.
With the remaining bullet, Ren fired another eldritch touch enhanced bullet into the second guardian's head as his arm was released from the first. Its great jaws tore into his gut as the bullet plowed into its head.
The attack was not nearly enough to stop it, and Ren felt his insides being torn. The first had terribly damaged his arm. With his offhand he grabbed the bone knife as he felt a tearing sensation and a pop inside of him.
Blood came in a crimson waterfall as he felt himself lighten. Eldritch horror was released as black veins receded from Ren’s body. The corruption left him as it speared through into the ant before him in an invisible wave of death.
The soldier behind the guardian soon felt the wave come flowing through it as it stopped in its tracks. Both cavern insects were motionless before they began twitching and writhing on the ground. Ren watched as his vital energy permeated his internal structures that were now torn and rendered to pieces on the ground.
His body began to feel shock set in as his hands went numb, and a cold sweat began to run down him. The little moisture he had left in him quickly began to leave him as even more blood poured out. His vitality seemed far too little as he struggled to survive.
He forced the energy to permeate his insides and stop the parts of him hurt from bleeding out the little moisture left in him. The thirst was terrible as his body simply did not have enough material to replace the parts of him missing. The vital energy flooded his intestines, what was left of them anyway, as the organs receded further into him and his flesh attempted to reknit together.
For all of his efforts, it was simply not enough. There was nothing to remake his flesh from, and there was not enough vitality within him to recover from the damages.
In a desperate act of lost hope, he flushed his blood and entrails with mana and tried to will them back into place. The mana was incapable of doing so many tasks at once. He was no cleric and had no divine blessing to aid in the healing process. Instead, he focuses slowly one part at a time, his mana infusing into the flesh and physically putting him back together.
His effort meant he had long moments of agony before his death would come, he knew this, yet proceeded regardless as any effort was greater than the plain acceptance of death.
It was long and excruciating moments before the earth rumbled. Something vast was awake, and so its very being shook the world. An energy so vibrant pulled at Ren’s eyes. Within the ethereal gloom that lurked within his lightless eyes, within the void, a great light emerged and sank towards him. The ruby of his bracer came alive, and the vibrant light came into him. He was relieved yet horrified for what hand had touched him.
-
The earth shook. A great rumble filled all things. The body was long lost, and the power was long out of use. Yet on this day the corpse again had its use, a presence came down on the long dead body. The energy swam in an unseeable vibrancy as the world shook, the energy swirled and came to him. With the lightest flicker, the vessel was remade. The Underdark was still again as a great presence retracted from the world.