Chapter 10:

Someone tackled me hard to the ground as something long and serpentine rushed over our heads. My pick went flying from my hand. I grunted and then yelped when I was pulled to my feet.

I had a second to see it was Shui Jianfeng that saved me. Then he shoved me towards Ming Lin. “Get his collar off! I’ll distract it.“

After that, he rushed off toward the snake beast, yelling and brandishing his pickaxe. I had a second to see that the snake was big enough to eat a person without unhinging its jaws. Then Ming Ling grabbed me by the arm and rushed us in the opposite direction. I nearly tripped, but his strong grip stopped me from falling.

“Did you get the ability?” Ming Lin asked urgently.

“Yeah,” I said, doing my best to keep up. “I did.”

“Then use it!”

“Alright, give me a second!” I snapped back as I tried to focus. The knowledge of how to use the Skill was in my head. All I needed to do was touch what I wanted to drain and use the mental trigger. “Slow down and let me touch your collar.”

Ming Lin scowled and looked behind us before slowing down. We didn’t stop though, continuing to put distance between us and the fight.

Behind us, I could still hear Shui Jianfeng’s yelling and the sound of rocks crushing and crumbling. I ignored it and instead focused on not tripping while doing the only thing I could really do to help.

I reached out with my free hand to Ming Lin’s neck and grabbed the collar. Then I activated Qi Leech. Immediately, I felt something flow into me. But a second later, my skin started to glow and the rate of flow halved. Fuck, I was full. And the Skill had said it would reduce the leaching rate when that happened.

What should I do? Eat a spirit stone? No, that was dumb. That would just make me have a larger but full capacity. I needed to use up my Qi.

“Can you do it or not?” Ming Lin asked angrily. “I thought I felt something but then you just stopped.”

“We need to stop,” I said, slowing down as I realized what I had to do. “I need to use up my Qi so I can absorb more.”

“Damn it, fine,” Ming Lin said after looking back behind us. He stopped and let go of my arm.

“I need to touch the ground,” I said, moving to crouch.

When Ming Lin gagged a bit and cursed me out, I realized I kinda dragged him by the neck. I quickly apologized but didn’t let go. Instead, I focused on activating Rock Claws without dropping Qi Leech. Thankfully, there was no issue with using just one hand for Rock Claws, and neither Skill required too much focus to maintain.

But there was another problem. The Skill didn’t use enough Qi. For about ten seconds after activation, my Skin stopped glowing and the flow from Qi Leech increased again. Then I was full again just like that. Damn, my tiny reserves.

“Come on,” Ming Lin said impatiently from beside me. “I can feel you doing something. Just drain more from it already. Or maintain it longer.”

“I’m trying,” I snapped before I tried out the additional ability that came with D-Rank Rock Claws. Using more Qi to grow and alter the shape of my claws. It was harder to do while maintaining Qi Leech but I managed. And soon the ground beneath my Rock Claws started to flow over them.

The liquid-like rock covered my claws and added to their mass. Once again, I had enough room in my reserves for Qi Leech to go full force. Though it took me another long couple of moments to regulate the speed at which I grew my Rock Claws so that I didn’t empty myself, but also so I wasn’t constantly full and slowing down Qi leech.

“Is that enough?” I asked once I got the balance right.

“Damn it, no!” Ming Lin shouted as he tugged on the collar around his neck. I could feel it start to bend and give. But not enough. “You need to drain the collar more. I can feel the collar try to feed off me to maintain its disruption. You need to drain more at once to stop it all together.”

“I think this is my limit,” I said, panicked.

“Well, try harder—” Ming Lin started to say.

Then, suddenly, he was tackling me to the floor. My concentration of the Skills broke and my growing Rock claws slipped away from my hand. At the same time, a serpentine form rushed over our heads and dread filled me. Did Shui Jianfeng just—No. I could still hear him shouting and fighting. So that meant there was another one.

Shit!

“Come on,” Ming Lin shouted as he dragged me to my feet and we started running again. “We can’t stay still.”

“But I can’t—” I started to say when Ming Lin pulled me roughly to the side as the snake rushed by us again. This one was just as big as the other one. God damn it, why were they so big?

“Try!” Ming Lin shouted as he dragged me along. “Otherwise, we’re dead. Just focus on draining the collar. I’ll keep us alive. In fact, get ready, I’ll carry you.”

“Carry me?” I asked incredulously before Ming Lin moved.

He grunted in pain as he pulled his left arm from his sling and then pulled me toward him. Before I knew it, I was in a princess carry and he began to sprint.

For a second, I wanted to complain that he didn’t fireman carry me or something. But I realized that it would have been a lot harder for me to reach his collar like that. And really, looking stupid in a princess carry was better than dying.

So I forced that idiotic thought aside and tried to focus. I needed a solution. I needed to try even if it seemed impossible. Because if I didn’t, then we were dead.

So I reached out and grabbed his collar again, trying to think of a solution. Just how could I increase the flow of Qi Leech? None of my other Skills could affect things like that. If only I could just force it…

Wait… Could the answer really be that simple?

Ming Lin juked us to the side again, and I felt the rush of air as the large serpentine form passed us again. Yeah, there was no time to think of anything else. It would have to be that simple.

So I activated Qi Leech again. Within moments I was glowing once more and the drain decreased. But I ignored it and instead focused on how the Skill actually worked. I’ve always been able to feel them, but I hadn’t really paid attention to any of my Skills before. They were just automatic. But maybe if I could grasp just what was happening, I could control it more.

I closed my eyes to focus better. After another long moment, and a jerk of movement from Ming Lin as he dodged again, I felt it. Something was flowing from me, latching onto something in the collar, and pulling a lot more of it back towards me. It was my Qi obviously, moving like it had a mind of its own. But it was my Qi, right?

So shouldn’t it listen to me?

I focused on that idea. I focused on pushing more of my Qi into the collar and dragging back more. Something in me seemed to strain at that, but I kept pushing anyway. Then my hand started to feel warm as it began to work. I was pulling more Qi to me.

“Is that enough?” I asked with gritted teeth.

Ming Lin gasped and suddenly it felt like we moved much faster. I felt one of his arms curl around my legs to reach for his collar. Metal creaked again. But there was no satisfying sound of breaking metal. Not yet.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Can you do any more?” Ming Lin asked as it felt like he leaped to the side again.

I didn’t reply and instead gritted my teeth. I forced more of my Qi into the collar to pull out even more of the Qi there. And I forced it all to move faster. And faster.

My hand started to burn, but I clenched it to fight off the pain.

“It’s working!” Ming Lin shouted. Then I felt a sharp pull against the collar I was holding and there was the sound of metal tearing in a squeal.

I grinned in triumph. It worked! Now all we—shit!

In my distraction, my Qi slipped from my grasp. It entered the only other source of Qi it could and went into Ming Lin. I swore loudly and pulled my hand away, but I still felt Qi flood me and burn my hand even more for a second. I also could have sworn I felt something snap.

“Fuck, you idiot!” Ming Lin suddenly snarled, though his voice cracked halfway through. He stumbled and almost dropped me.

I snapped my eyes open in panic. Shit, did I injure him? Did I really fuck it up at the last—What the hell?

My train of thought broke as I looked into a furious set of eyes glaring at me. It was Ming Lin of course, but there was something different about them now.

They had looked a bit feminine before, in an arrogant pretty-boy sort of way. But now their features had softened—though not their expression—and now looked just like a pretty girl. In fact… I couldn’t help but move my gaze down as I realized I felt something soft press up against my arms.

Yep… Those didn’t belong on a guy. So was Ming Lin actually a girl?

I opened my mouth to say something, but I was suddenly shoved away hard. I flew through the air and slammed into a nearby wall.

“You idiot!” Ming Ling shouted before spinning to turn and face the serpent that caught up with us.

I stared in shock and horror as it slammed into her and continued forward. Dust and rubble were sent everywhere, obscuring my view. Then, suddenly, what I could see of the snake skidded to a halt.

“When I’m done with this thing, you’re going to pay for that, idiot!” An only vaguely familiar voice shouted out.

I let out a sigh of relief at that, even as the dust started to settle and I could make out what happened.

The snake tried to thrash around, but it was locked in place with its mouth open for a bite. Ming Lin was in the path of its maw, but she had the top and bottom of its mouth firmly held, and her feet had dug trenches in the ground.

“Damn it,” Ming Lin grunted. She gritted her teeth and tried to force the snake away but she couldn’t manage it. Despite her monstrous strength returning, she could only match the Rank 1 spirit beast. Not beat it.

I watched worriedly as the rock-covered serpent started to coil its lower body towards her. It took me a second, but I realized it was going to try and constrict her.

Damn it, I needed to do something. But what?

I looked at the rocky-like skin of the snake’s scales, and then couldn’t help but think about how my Rock Claws tore through stone and dirt. That could work. It would mean having to get close to the thing…

But yeah, I would have to take the risk. Cause if she died, then we were all fucked anyway.

So I quickly reached into my pocket and took out a small spirit stone. Then I threw it in my mouth and ate it.

Power surged through me, boosting my body and Qi reserves. Pain lanced out from my right hand, causing me to wince, but I bore with it. Hopefully, that was only temporary. Still, I reached down with both hands and used Rock Claws.

Again, there was more pain in my right hand, but I gritted my teeth and pushed through. I shaped the claws to be sharper and more blade-like before getting up. Then I rushed the serpent as it coiled around Ming Lin.

She was still holding its mouth back but unable to stop herself from getting constricted.

I reached her in moments, my enhanced body making it easy. Then I shoved my sharp claws into the side of the snake, not daring to get close to the head that Ming Lin was starting to have trouble holding onto. They didn’t cut through the rock-like scales as easily as they did actual rock. But they still let me rip through and gouge out scales with enough effort.

The snake let out a furious hiss and coiled itself tighter. Ming Lin grunted in pain as it began to constrict her properly.

I gritted my teeth and lashed out like an animal. I had to stop this thing before it killed her. So I just ripped and tore at anything I could. Once past the scales, it got a lot easier as I tried to dig through all the meat and bone to reach the spine in the center.

The snake continued to writhe and coil, but it couldn’t get away while coiled around Ming Lin and with its mouth in her grasp. And with the spirit stone boosting my strength and speed, I reached my goal quickly. My stone blade claws tore into the tough bones of its spine and into the sensitive nerves inside.

The serpent let out something more akin to a roar than a hiss. Then half its body seemed to go limp and the rest of it twitched violently.

Ming Lin, taking the opportunity, let out a shout of effort and tightened her grip on the upper and lower jaws of the snake. With one more furious shout, she twisted and tore. There was a loud crunch of bone, then the rest of the snake went limp.

But she wasn’t done. With one last scream of rage, she pulled and twisted and tore the whole head off of the snake.

Gore and viscera exploded out.

I watched in awe and relief as we managed to kill it. Right up until she turned her blood-soaked gaze over to me. Something told me she still wasn’t quite over whatever I’d done. Messed up her disguise? How did that even work? Cause she definitely had looked like a guy before.

“Hey! Are you guys done yet!” Another voice shouted out in the cave.

Ming Lin turned her gaze towards it. I let out a sigh, only to hold my breath again when she turned back to glare at me. Thankfully, she didn’t do anything else before rushing off to help Shui Jianfeng.

I slumped in relief and then turned off my Rock Claws Skill. The rock flowed off my hands, and the burning pain in my right hand disappeared. I really hope that wasn’t an issue. Then I let out a sigh and almost moved to sit down for a moment. But I noticed something odd before I could. The body of the snake. There was a blue halo around it.

I gaped for a second before focusing on it. And then a new window popped up. It seemed that the System didn’t just let me harvest things I gave the killing blow to. Enough damage must have counted too.

Defeated Enemy: Rank 1 Rock Tunneling Serpent.

Available Skills to Harvest:

* Burrowing (Active) (Rank D): Move through the earth by quickly digging a passage just large enough for your body.

* * Cost: 5 Qi.

* * Range: Up to 5 yards

* * D-Rank Feature:

* * Increase range by expending more Qi

* Rock Scales (Active) (Rank D): Create scales of rock over your body to protect yourself from damage.

* * Cost: 5 Qi

* * Upkeep: 5 Qi per Minute

* * D-Rank Feature: Increase the defense power of the scales by increasing the upkeep.

* Burrow Reinforcement(active) (Rank D): Convert and fuse all earth in a sphere around you to solid and sturdy stone. Ideal for an underground burrow.

* * Cost 10 Qi

* * Range 5-yard Radius

I quickly narrowed in on the final Skill. One thing I’d been worried about our plan—among many other things—was the fear of cave-ins. But this Skill seemed just the thing we needed to prevent that. Also, depending on how it worked… it might solve another problem for us.

I chose it. Sure, the other Skills could be useful, especially the first one. But that one seemed to only be good for me. And I wasn’t sure what would happen if I reached my maximum range while still in the dirt. I’d probably get stuck until I had the Qi to use it again, and that wasn’t something I really wanted to experience. So Burrow Reinforcement it was.

The massive snake glowed, then broke up into a large number of motes of blue light.

“So, what did you g—” A voice started to ask before it was cut off by a violent cough fit.

I spun around at the abrupt noise. Then I winced. Shui Jianfeng was not in good shape. What I could see of his bandages under his tunic had turned red. Ming Lin supported his right side to hold him up, and he kept most of his weight off of that leg as well. And, of course, there was the coughing.

It was violent and harsh.

The only good thing was that his collar was off now as well.

“Are you okay,” I asked, feeling dumb for doing so. But I was hoping that with access to his Qi, maybe this wasn’t as bad as it seemed.

“Yeah, I just need some rest,” Shui Jianfeng said once he stopped coughing. He tried to grin in reassurance but it looked weak. “I got tossed against this strange fungus thing and breathed in something from it. But I should be able to deal with it now that I can use my Qi.”

Ming Lin looked at him with a tight lip frown, which did little to reassure me that was actually the case. I couldn’t even be happy that her anger towards me for whatever I did seemed to have disappeared for now.

“Alright,” I said, doing my best not to let the doubt on my face show. “Then let’s get out of here for now and go rest. Also, the new Skill I got is actually really useful and it might be just what we need.”

“That’s goo—” Shui Jianfeng started to say only to start coughing again.

I grimaced at that, but we all started walking back to where we’d originally come from. Hopefully, Shui Jianfeng was right and this wouldn’t become a problem.