I'm practically the only one that got hurt. I kept using my [Martyr] skill and kept healing my wounds. The wolf I "spared" managed to survive, unlike their brethren.

More importantly, the whole party leveled from the fight twice. Before I can open my [System], a window pops up.

[Resistance: Poison 70 > 71]

Huh, that's ominous. Shit, I'm actually getting light-headed. What did I get poisoned by? Lightheadedness, muscle stiffness, and now this foreboding sense of cold. Hmm.

I smell the mouth of one of the dead wolves, and my suspicions are correct. The wolves were hungry enough to consume large amounts of [Snow Berries], which accumulated the toxins within the wolves' bodies and mouths.

Blood starts pouring out of my nose.

[Resistance: Poison 71 > 72]

How many wolf bites did I take anyway? My health is barely decreasing, but it seems one of my skills has hidden detriment. The poison spreads through my body faster thanks to my [Second Heart]. My cardiovascular is different, allowing blood, posions, and pathogens to flow through my body rapidly.

[Resistance: Poison 72 > 73]

That didn't make me feel better. The poison seems to be ramping up in intensity. I start involuntarily shivering as my beasts now notice something is off about me.

[Master, is something wrong? You are turning blue.]

"Am I?"

I look at my hands, and my vision is blurry. Am I seriously dying? At least my mind is working at full throttle.

[Resistance: Poison 73 > 74]

Maybe if I can concoct an antidote, everything will be fine. I scramble to the sled and look through the things we have. Eureka! Of course!

I must fight fire with fire! I eat a handful of [Snow Berries] before falling unconscious.

~

I wake up vomiting red. My entire body burns from the cold. I look around and see that I am in a cave. My head is killing me.

Rob comes running over as soon as I start to sit up. He seems worried about me. How cute.

"Rob, can you get me some water? Can you also get Duchess to come over?"

He nods and runs out of the cave. I take this brief moment to check my status.

Name / Nickname

Ellis Vincere / The Last Winner

Race

Human

Class

Unique Master (Rank C)

Level

52 (678/3m)

Titles

Proud Owner of a Rock, Fell the Mighty, Butcher…

~

~

Health Points

356/1323 (+130% bonus)

Mana Points

246/500

Armor Points

0

Might

100 (95 + 5)

Agility

100 (85 + 10 + 5)

Vigor

115 (85 +15 + 15 )

Mind

100

Spirit

124 (110 > 114 + 10)

Perception

40

Charisma

20 (5 + 15)

Luck

2

Unused

28 > 44

Resistance:

Slashing

80

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Ice

99

Piercing

100

Acid

70

Blunt

201

Poison

149

Fire

70

Lightning

92

Mental

91

Radiant

74

V@#%

1

Force

89

Necrotic

10

~ ~

It seems that my poison resistance grew in my sleep. That's what I call passive training.

I might as well start distributing stats. I'll split Might, Vigor, and Mind 3-2-2 and leave the last point as a backup.

[Might: 100 > 118]

[Vigor: 115 > 127] [Health: 1461 (+130%)]

[Mind: 100 > 112] [Mana: 560]

[Unused: 44 > 2]

I'm glad that I got eight points per level to allow me to surpass Flash Gordon in health. Strange, I've noted this before, but Flash Gordon should be getting six points each level-up instead of the five he is currently getting. Why is that? Finding the answer to this mystery is my priority once I am out of the fracture.

Rob runs in, holding a wooden cup of water. He must have carved it himself.

He hands me the water, and I take it with both hands. The water is murky and unclean. I shrug, As I am about to drink the water, it gets ripped out of my hands, and a waterskin is replaced in my confused grasp.

Duchess with her [Telekinesis] exchanged the two when she slithered in.

[Master, you are finally awake.]

I drink from the waterskin to get rid of the taste of vomit.

"What happened. Where are we?"

[You poisoned yourself in a state of delirium and forced us to find shelter for you. Thisss one found a cave nearby, and we have been waiting for over a day for you to wake up.]

"..."

[The wolf you wanted alive is still captured.]

"Lead me there."

~

Was I delirious? I thought I had complete autonomy over my actions. Now that I have the chance to think about it, I did the stupidest thing possible in that situation. I blame the trait.

The wolf is bound and muzzled by rope, the vines nowhere to be seen. It seems like the wolf has given up after a day of being watched by fifty sharks. Behind it, near the sled, is a mound of dead wolves, pelts, and mana crystals.

As I approach it with my blade drawn, the wolf whimpers into its muzzle.

Test one. I poke the wolf with my sword and activate [Bramble Blade]. The vines travel down the length of my blade before trying to anchor themselves into the wolf's flesh. It seems that I only need contact for the vines to spread out.

But there must be a reason it's called [Bramble Blade] and not something like [Entangle]. This restraining function must be a secondary effect, but what's the first.

I rip the vines off and now try activating the skill without the sword as a medium. Nothing happens, but I recall something. Every time I used the ability, I intended to harm. I stand up and try again.

Time for test two. A wooden hilt appears in my hand as the skill manifests into a [Bramble Blade]. I feel the weapon is fleeting, so I attack the wolf.

I miss horribly and hit a nearby tree. Well, the tree wasn't nearby but fifteen feet away. As soon as the whip-like sword strikes the bark, it congeals into a writhing mass of vines at the impact zone. Huh, curious.

Test three was to see whether or not the ring can feed off other entities, but I wanted to try something first.

I use [Bramble Blade] and strike a thick branch high up. The maximum range is pretty long as I get pulled along with the rest of the vine. It's slower than I expected, but if necessary, I can use this skill for mobility. I also probably bring things closer, but that can wait.

I jump down and land with a thud. I don't take fall damage as I crater next to the poor wolf. The first test subject for my vampiric ring is not the bound wolf but one of its kind.

I don't know if these intact wolf corpses are planned to be skinned or if the intention is to keep them like that. Usually, the blood has to be drained because it rots fast. Luckily, Rob or Duchess doesn't know that, so I can try to get the ring to drink.

The ring must not want dead blood since I stuck it in a corpse, and it didn't drink a drop. I try with the [Bramble Blade], but nothing happens. Now time for the test subject.

My barbed sword doesn't seem to have vampiric abilities, so I continue with the test. I cut a small wound on the wolf and rubbed my ring on it. Some blood actually goes into it! When the wooden parts of the ring touch the crimson juice, it absorbs it.

It seems to not prefer the taste. I don't know if a ring can feel emotions, but it seemed to love my blood, but it's barely tolerating this kind. Maybe my blood is delicious or something. I don't recall mosquitoes being fond of me.

My final test is to once again wrap the wolf with vines and see if my ring can feed that way. The wolf struggles against its bindings as the thorns drink from its body. I stop the vines after a while. It's a success.

I mark that different creatures' blood may have different "ratings" for how well it can satiate the ring. My blood is leagues above this wolf's, so there is no point in torturing this animal any further.

I cut the wolf loose, and the wolf seemed surprised. The wolf has intelligent eyes, so tormenting this living creature for no reason is not something I want to do. I'd kill if it meant leveling up or feeding the ring, but it will give me so little progression to either, so it's not worth it.

The wolf is surprised as it's stunned on the spot. I smack it on the ass, breaking the stun. The wolf must have realized that I'm setting it free. A day of being tied up after watching your pack mates die, then watching said packmates being skinned for meat and furs must have been torture. And also the torment of being a test subject. The wolf runs as fast as it can away from me.

I dust off my hands. Nature is beautiful.

[Skill Catalogued!]

[Bramble Blade

The user may invoke the Bramble Blade skill ten times a day. When activated, blood-draining vines will restrain a touched target through the medium of a weapon. The brambles can take the form of an attacking whip-sword.]

Huh, neat. My experimentation was enough for the [System] to recognize the effects of the skills. Whoever or whatever made this ring sure did try to keep this thing as obscure as possible.

I let the ring suckle health at the same rate as my passive regeneration. I find my tamed beasts waiting for me in the cave.

~

We are ready to head out once again. We left the intact wolf corpses at the cave since we already had pelts prepared. Hopefully, a scavenger will come by and make use of these creatures.

More importantly, Rob managed to find a suitable bond for his chimerism after digging through all those corpses. I'm glad that humanoids aren't the only creature that can "donate" to Rob.

Undead Chimerism C

The user does not need to eat, drink, sleep, or breathe. The user is classified as undead and is subjected to their weaknesses and limitations.

The user may replace parts to gain unique effects. (2/5)

-Humerus of a Human Butcher (+15 Might)]

-Lower Extremities of an Artic Wolf (+45 Agility)

Rob is slowly turning into a menace. His canine legs force him to walk hunched over, giving a look that he is always about to pounce. He also now has a bone tail...

The new lower half gave him about nine levels worth of stats, but now if he replaces any of the bones in that area, the "harmony" will shatter, probably giving him a smaller bonus.

Wait. Will this become a "Ship of Theseus" enigma in the future? If Rob replaces every part of himself, will he still be the same Rob?

Of course not. He'd have better stats.

Almost an hour passes before we notice anything noteworthy inside the forest.

AAAAAAAAGHLJAH

An ear-bursting scream echoes through the trees. Obviously, we investigate the source.

[Is this wise, Master?]

"Have you ever seen a horror movie?"

[No.]

"Then yes."