Before Ray could kickstart his plan, he had to make sure of one thing. Could Kredevel actually hold the Fiend for a little while?
Ideally, he would have planned the whole thing out with Kredevel. Of course, there was always the chance—a big chance, if he was being honest—that his unintended ally would decry Ray’s intentions. He might even go so far as to stop Ray instead of fighting off the Fiend. Ray didn’t know how alien minds really worked, but he wasn’t encouraged by their last interaction.
Maybe it was a blessing in disguise that he hadn’t had the chance to tell his idea to Kredevel. After all, Ray needed nothing more than a head-start.
Which was exactly what Kredevel was providing at the moment.
First, Ray crushed the Mana crystal to restore much of his total capacity. Then, trying not to be distracted by the fight, he crept towards the corpse of Kredevel’s pet.
A brief glance showed that, despite clearly possessing what Ray could only call “some cool shit” since Mystic Knowledge wasn’t forthcoming on anything not affecting him directly, Kredevel was falling back. A shimmering aura had enveloped him, outlining his form in purple light. He fought with a curved silver sword flickering with the similar amethyst hued energy.
Ray’s honest and rather uneducated opinion was that it looked powerful. Kredevel looked powerful. But the Fiend was stronger still.
The monster blocked all of Kredevel’s blows with its spear before counterattacking. Each of its stabs and slashes forced Kredevel back, step by step. It was faster, stronger, better in all the ways that counted. Slowly but surely, it would overwhelm Kredevel.
Not if Ray could help it.
That was where stealing the dead body of the alien dog came in. The way it had been placed, Ray was pretty certain the Fiend considered the corpse the capstone of its hoard. Just stealing a few pieces of loot from the pile in a side room had drawn the Fiend murderously towards him.
If Ray stole the dog too, he was pretty certain the monster would disregard everything else to come hounding after the thief. Exactly what he needed it to do.
Just to be certain his plan would indeed work, Ray fired off a Chaos Chymify at the Fiend’s back.
It cost him half of the last of his Mana and did next to no damage. That was for the best. Ray had been counting on his inability to do any substantial harm to the Fiend to keep its attention on Kredevel.
[Partial Soul Sorption]
Fathered Fiend [Monster] [Tier 7] at Level 15
Hob-goblinoid creature that guards treasure hoards with great devotion. If any treasure is stolen from its hoard, it will pursue the thief to retrieve the stolen loot for great distances. Possesses the biological traits of Feathered Imps, but with greater strength and intelligence. The Everair needed a marshal to corral the Imps, and what better creature to control them than a being that had the vestiges of the Everair themselves.
Skills:
Hoard Defence [Tier 4]: Raises the strength of all other skills and all stats up to the Tier of this skill, so long as user remains close to a hoard.
Tectonic Theft [Tier 1]: Steals the structural integrity off the earth to cause it to collapse.
Lifesteal [Tier 2]: Steals target’s Recovery.
Marauder’s Curse [Tier 1]: Inflicts a curse on the target that penalizes target for stealing.
Winged Spear Wielder [Tier 2]: Proficiency with flight and spear wielding grants access to special spear skills.
Full Soul Sorption not possible without target’s death and Lifeblood Crucible.
Ray ignored the warning at the bottom. He had found what he was looking for. It was just as he had thought. Hoard Defence was boosting the Fiend’s power greatly.
In other words, Ray would need to drag the monster away from its precious treasure.
“Sorry about the desecration I’m about to perform, Brick Licker,” Ray said as he grabbed the corpse and began hauling it onto his shoulder. It was thankfully not too heavy. “But rest assured that you’ll be helping someone who loved you a lot.”
As Ray got to his feet, he found his eyes meeting that of Kredevel’s. He had been pushed back to the very rear of the chamber, near the opening he had rushed through. The Fiend disengaged from him, perhaps sensing that its main hoard had been disturbed.
But an understanding passed between Ray and Kredevel. A silent message of what they both intended to do.
Kredevel attacked the monster with the same fury as before, hauling its attention back to himself. Giving Ray the perfect chance to hightail it out of there.
He would have loved to take his pick of the various loot that Mystic Knowledge was trying to indicate, but there was no time. His main priority was the Fiend. If needed, Ray could return later.
It was worth considering, he supposed, why Mystic Knowledge was happy to give him information about Mana-related loot. The ones he had taken from the side-chamber hadn’t exactly been affecting him. At least, not until he had taken possession of them.
Unless… being in their vicinity counted as having possession of them. Or more importantly, their effect.
Something to test later. For now, Ray ran.
He cursed. It was actually noticeable how he was slower than before. The culprit wasn’t the weight he was carrying. Brick Licker wasn’t too much of a burden. No, this was that shrieking debuff from the monster. What was it called? Oh right, Marauder’s Curse.
Arcane Aura might have reduced its impact, but it clearly wasn’t doing enough of that. Though, that cleared up as Ray began putting some distance between him and the main chamber. There had been another tunnel connecting the main hoard to who knew where. The lightest of drafts confirmed that it wasn’t a dead end, so Ray had hurtled into it.
And now that he was getting further away from the Fiend’s chamber, he was slowly moving faster and faster too. It wasn’t because of Ray’s own distance from his previous location.
It was the Fiend.
[Warning!]
Mystic Knowledge indicates that Marauder’s Curse has decreased in strength to [Tier 3]. Your movement speed will be slowed down so long as you hold any item from the hoard. Arcane Aura has reduced the impact.
At the same time as the notification popped up, a loud, clacking roar echoed through the tunnel. Oh yes, Ray was about to be hunted.
The Fiend had to be charging after him. Now that he had stolen the pinnacle of its thefts, the monster must have disengaged from its fight against Kredevel and rushed after Ray as soon as it had discovered that its precious canine corpse was missing.
Just what Ray wanted it to be doing.
The tunnels were shaking. Soon enough—
[Warning!]
Mystic Knowledge indicates a wide area-of-effect ability has been activated. The effects of Tectonic Theft [Tier 3] are debilitating at your level. Please take proper defensive measures.
Ah, yes. There it was. The Fiend was intent on stopping him. Even if it meant all the tunnels collapsed, as they were threatening to do now, the monster was determined to stop Ray.
Still. Good to see that it had decreased a Tier. Ray’s supposition and the proof he had discovered using Chaos Chymify was correct. The monster’s power was indeed decreasing the farther it was removed from its hoard. Soon enough, it would be in position.
Ray tried not to shake too much as the earth trembled around him. He cursed as he swerved past falling rocks and debris. A chunk of the ceiling hitting him on the head would be the worst possible timing. But while he was wary of the rocks, Ray was looking forward to the other kind of obstacle that soon presented itself.
More Imps. Perfect. Ray wasted no time crushing the first Imp that burst out of the nearby wall with a Shatterclaw. He killed it with one blow. Clearly, a level 3, variant, not one of the level 5 ones.
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
No time to stop. He had to keep moving. The shrieks of the Fiend were getting closer. Damn monster was too fast.
When the next few Imps came in, Ray didn’t kill them just then. He just moved on. Fast. His feet thumped on the hard ground, throwing up broken rocks and dust as he ran. It was a minor blessing he didn’t trip and fall with how broken everything was thanks to Tectonic Theft.
Not killing the Imps was posing problems, though. He wasn’t always swift enough to evade them fully. They left bleeding gashes wherever they could reach, their sharp beaks and curving claws lacerating Ray all over his body. He had no Recovery with which to heal up the wounds, so the blood loss and building pain definitely made themselves felt.
He grunted and forged on. Faster. Faster. The Fiend wasn’t far behind. Its shrieks continued echoing through the tunnels, hammering into his ears. Promising death if he slipped up. No staggering. No slowing down.
Chased by a small squadron of Fathered Imps determined to gut him, Ray ran on.
He stomped on the brakes as soon as he burst out into a larger chamber. There were more Imps waiting for him there, but that was fine. The more the merrier for his Mana regeneration.
It wasn’t too difficult to manoeuvre himself around when the new Imps tried to attack him. A little evasion and rotating allowed him to position himself in relation to his enemy just so. His back faced the chamber and the bridge just behind him. All the Imps were gathered a few feet in front, their backs to the tunnel he had run out of.
A second later, the Imps chasing him tumbled out, distracting several of the ones standing on front of him. A distraction that Ray used to pounce.
He activated a Shatterclaw. A powerful one. Mana Infuser allowed him to take it to Tier 4, even if he had to spend almost all the Mana he had gathered so far. It was worth it. The claws grew larger and turned more numerous, infused with so much black-red energy that, as soon as Ray slammed the claws down upon the Imps, they exploded outwards from the impact point.
Ray hadn’t been expecting that powerful of a reaction. The force definitely took him aback.
[Enemy Defeated—Feathered Imp]
Tier 6 Monster: Feathered Imp [Level 5] x3
Tier 6 Monster: Feathered Imp [Level 3] x4
Essence: +1,620
Mana Restored: +270
[Level Up!]
Reward
* +3 Intellect, +3 Spirit, +2 Vitality, +4 allocatable free stats.
* 1 Tier Point
* Barrier Spells Unlocked! You can now learn barrier spells.
* New Spell: Sigil Shield [Barrier] [Tier 1]
* Sigil Shield has been converted to Mottling Membrane by Path of Lifeblood Chaos.
Essence to Level 11: 1,200/3,800
Ray pushed the notification aside. He did put the free stats to Intellect again. Ray’s initial impulse was to assign the Tier point to Shatterclaw as before, but he had the Mana Infuser ring to boost its Tier. He would be better off spending that upgrade on something else.
Lifeblood Crucible felt the most reasonable choice. Ray wouldn’t be locked into a single Soul Aspect at Tier 2. Or at least, he hoped the upgrade would increase the number of—
A rippling growl drew him away from the progression considerations.
The Fiend was almost here.
Heart-pounding exhilaration possessed Ray, skittering over his skin, making his thoughts feel like hair next to a Van De Graaff generator. Now or never.
The Fiend charged out of the tunnel Ray himself had used a moment ago with a stupendous clacking roar. Just the sound alone made the whole place shake and threaten to fall apart.
Ray turned and ran. That he had done all that while still carrying the corpse of the alien dog was honestly amazing. When the System rewarded him for completing the Objectives, it had better note his dead-dog-carrying handicap. Ray’s heart plunged into his guts as he hurtled across the stone bridge, the rocks underfoot shifting as the bridge threatened to fall.
Shit. But also, this was great. This was going to speed up his plan.
He was nowhere near fast enough to outrun the Fiend, of course. Despite having been drawn away from its hoard, where Hoard Defence was no longer elevating its innate power, it was still too quick. He was never going to make it to the other end before getting caught.
Good thing Ray had never intended to do so in the first place.
Halfway across the bridge, Ray twisted, then threw himself off. Just in time. The Fiend barrelled through the spot he’d been a second ago, crashing nearly to the other end of the bridge.
The fall would have been bad for Ray. They were pretty high up. Almost thirty feet, if his estimation wasn’t off. He would have broken an ankle at the very least, if he was landing normally. Without any Recovery to instantly fix it up, he’d be screwed.
Exactly why, as Ray’s feet left the bridge, he used Primal Summons. The last time he had used Chaos Chymify to kill an Imp, he had switched up Soul Sorption to pick a new Soul Aspect.
Feathered Glide.
With a heavy loud flutter, the black energy encasing his form sprouted a storm of feathers all over him. That alone probably wouldn’t have been enough. But Ray spread his arms wide, letting the feathers stretch out to their full span all over his back, like he had a hang-glider on him. Ray grinned. He could fly.
Well, not really. The feathers slowed his fall just enough so that when he hit the wall and crumpled to the floor, he was fine. Mostly. His leg spasmed with pain, but he would survive.
Ray had lost his dead burden, but that was part of the plan anyway. It had even fallen at the right location too. How lucky for him. He looked up. The Fiend was wasting no time leaping down. That mane of feathers he had thought was some sort of cape were actually wings now unfurling to their full length.
Ray’s whole body tensed. Now or never. As the Fiend came screeching down at him, Ray wasted no time slashing his arm as he activated Shatterclaw. He missed the Fiend, of course. The monster was too fast.
But his true target hadn’t been his enemy to begin with. Not directly.
Ray quickly threw himself back. The Fiend crashed down where he had been a breath ago, its spear impaling the earth next to the dog’s body. In the next heartbeat, the bridge came crashing down upon the monster.
It was impossible to keep the grin from splitting his face. The Fiend squawked in outrage as it went down.
Rocks and debris pummelled it to the ground, keeping it locked in place as dust took to the air. The whole chamber shook, and Ray had to keep a hand on the rock wall next to him so that he didn’t fall too.
He waited until the rain of rocks had slowed down and the dust had dissipated a little before stepping forward. His grin never dipped for a second.
The Fiend was trapped. It was trying to break free of its stony jail, futilely attempting to push out from under the rubble. The monster made no progress. There was too much weighing it down. This far from its hoard, it couldn’t summon up enough strength to free itself.
“You’ve kept me trapped in this little shithole of a cave for long enough, pal,” Ray said, raising one hand as high as he could. “It’s time we ended this.”
When he brought his arm down, the motion was accompanied by Shatterclaw. A Shatterclaw boosted to Tier 5. A Shatterclaw that crashed down with so much power, it sent all the debris flying off his target, shooting off like little meteors trailing back-red flames.
When the dust had cleared once more, the top third of the Feathered Fiend’s torso had been obliterated.
A new corpse to join the old one that Ray had dragged away.
[Enemy Defeated—Feathered Fiend]
Tier 7 Monster: Feathered Fiend [Level 15] x1
Essence: +1,050
Mana Restored: +150
Essence to Level 11: 2,250/3,800
Ray slumped. Great. Everything was accomplished. He finally had some time to check on the new things he had gained.
Mottling Membrane? Now that was one crazy name, if Ray was being honest. He quickly brought up information about his latest magical acquisition.
[Information Request—Spells]
Mottling Membrane [Barrier] [Tier 1]
A barrier spell that erects a shield of chaotic energy all around the caster at a radius of 3 meters. Direct negation of physical damage is reduced in favour of greater defence against Mana-based abilities. The mantle of Lifeblood Chaos infusing the shield causes any living matter passing through it to rupture, receiving considerable damage. At Tier 1, this spell blocks up to Tier 2 Mana-based abilities and costs 30 Mana.
Ray had baulked a little at seeing the fact that the barrier’s physical damage negation had dropped, but reading to the end made him blink. Okay, so he could essentially create a shield of chaotic energy around him.
It wasn’t hard at all to remember just what kind of damage those who had been hit by his spells suffered.
Apparently, with his latest spell, any attackers would be forced to suffer the same kind of body-deforming damage just to reach him. Neat.
He supposed it wouldn’t stop determined, powerful attackers. If the Fiend had still been alive, he wouldn’t have been able to stop it for long, since he was pretty sure that monster hadn’t been one to shy away from pain.
But Ray could already see potential uses for his newest spell. Once activated, would it move with him? The description said the damage was considerable, but just how much would it hurt? He could imagine the sheer benefit of an Imp rushing at him only to stagger in pain as it passed through the barrier, giving him an opportunity to retaliate.
[Lifeblood Crucible Activated]
Chaos Chymify has stolen the soul of a defeated Feathered Fiend. Please select which Soul Aspects of the targeted soul to retain.
Soul Aspects
* Soaring Wings: Mane of streamlined Fiend feathers that allows flight [Tier 7]
* Hoard Defence: Raises the strength of all other skills and all stats up to the Tier of this skill, so long as user remains close to a hoard. [Tier 4]
* Tectonic Theft: Steals the structural integrity off the earth to cause it to collapse. [Tier 1]
* Lifesteal: Steals target’s Recovery. [Tier 2]
* Marauder’s Curse: Inflicts a curse on the target that penalizes target for stealing. [Tier 1]
* Moderate Claws: Long, hardened claws of a Fiend that also boost physical damage [Tier 7]
* Shinesight: Sharp eyes of a Fiend that makes darkness decipherable [Tier 6]
Ray grinned a little as he peeked through his options a few times before coming to a decision. It was kind of ironic how he was about to steal the abilities of a monster that had been so against anyone else stealing its shit. He focused on his actual options.
Most of those wouldn’t be of use to him. They were too conditional, too reliant on the specific… theme—it was the best way he could put it—of thieving and hoarding.
Soaring Wings sounded intriguing. Who wouldn’t love the ability to actually fly? Although, it did bring in some questions. Why would a creature buried inside a cave system need the ability to soar?
Ray was also curious about Shinesight. But how much help would a third eye actually be?
Before he selected anything from his list of options, he checked Lifeblood Crucible to make sure it really was at Tier 2.
[Information Request—Lifeblood Crucible]
Lifeblood Crucible [Passive] [Tier 2]
A passive primal spell that creates a simulacra of the Primordial Crucible of Chaos within the caster’s soul. This crucible holds all the primal forces of life in its virulent mixture. Careful control allows the caster to channel the aspect of any soul stored within the caster’s spirit. At Tier 2, caster can store two Souls Aspects using Chaos Chymify, regardless of target’s Tier [Tier restriction removed]. If the stored Aspect is of a higher Tier than the spell’s Tier, manifested Soul Aspect will be up to one Tier higher than the spell’s current Tier.
The first half of the description was mostly the same flavour text that he had read the first time he had pulled up the information request. But everything after Tier 2 had changed. Ray could now store two Aspects instead of just one. That meant he could absorb two of Fiend’s abilities instead of just one.
Even better, if the Aspect was of a higher Tier than his spell, it would manifest at a single Tier above his spell’s. That meant up to Tier 3, depending on which ability he picked.
Ray palmed the helmet on his head, fingered his ring, and looked down at the corpse of the dead alien dog-monster. Oh, yes. Now that Lifeblood Crucible had been upgraded, his choices were quite clear.