Jordan groaned as a dull ringing filled his ears. There was a sharp, stabbing pain at the top of his head. His hair felt physically matted as something warm and wet dripped down the back of his neck. Dark spots ran across his vision while the world itself felt distant and out of focus.
What the? What… happened? He asked himself while trying to shake the fog and confusion out of his head. A mistake, as all that motion accomplished was the pain intensifying and temporarily blurring his sight even further.
For another second, Jordan couldn’t even remember what he’d been doing before this point. But then, when he looked around while trying to forcibly blink his eyes into focusing, his gaze landed on a large, orange-red figure. That’s when it came back to him, or rather, it partially did so.
There was a clear gap in memory, as he didn’t even know what had actually happened to him. One moment, he’d been riding his drone as the Crab had crushed the gem. And now, in what felt like just an instant later, he was on the ground and directly in front of a tree’s trunk.
He tried to take to deeply inhale, but then he suddenly stopped midway through. Jordan gasped as the attempt at a sucking breath resulted in an intense pain in his chest, like a muscle had been pulled. A moderate distance away, the Crab had slowed down. Like a predator sure that its prey could no longer flee and was now cornered, it took its time to make the final approach.
Jordan’s eyes eventually landed on the ground the Crab was passing by. From where his land drone had driven over, there was a clear indent in the bed of leaves that. But in what had to be a couple hundred feet between him and the Crab, there was a sudden stop to that indent. Then, glancing back at the trunk right next to him, he saw a cracked depression in the wood. Like something fairly big had just hit it very, very hard.
Something that was approximately the size of a human skull, for example. One that’d been flung into the tree from the back of a drone in what was effectively a similar scenario to someone speeding down the freeway without a seatbelt, before being thrown through the front windshield. In that example scenario, he should have been dead with his head turned into a squashed watermelon, plain and simple.
But it seemed like fate was on his side, or rather, a more rigid body from the System. Since it appeared that all the bonuses resulting in all his physical Stats being in their 30s had turned this into what “only” felt like a bad concussion. At the very least, he was still alive. So that was as good of a start as any.
Jordan tried to get up to his feet. Once again that was a mistake, as his body immediately betrayed him by sitting his ass right back down before he could even finish standing up. It was only as the ringing finally started to clear from his ears that Jordan heard the Crab speaking. It’d been apparently been in the middle of a whole monologue, and he was only now at least partially tuning in.
“-Has punished you for your wicked ways! From the few of you Humans that I have met, it is now clear to me that none of your kind are without evil in your hearts! For only evildoers would be so… so audacious as to reject the Golden Prince’s summons for the honor of being a sacrifice! But know this, villain! Even if you do not wish to be taken alive, then so be it! In your death, you shall only allow me to become a more worthy sacrifice in your stead!” Clovis proudly declared.
Jordan tried to take the moment to just focus on his breathing. However, while deep breaths were basically impossible, even just shallow ones still hurt. It was impossible to diagnose just how bad the impact had been, but something was clearly fucked up beyond just a concussion.
Was this inability to properly breathe due to broken ribs? Or were his lungs themselves damaged? He had no idea how one was even meant to tell without having any medical experience.
However, he was clearly in no condition to run or fight. His air drone was still dutifully doing its best, since sleeping while his land drone hunted last night had already proven that he didn’t need to be conscious for them to stay summoned. Yet even that was then taken away, as Clovis then turned toward it while actively monologuing.
“-And begone with this accursed metal insect with its stinging from afar!” Picking up a particularly large branch off the ground, the Crab pulled its arm back while holding it with its claw.
Joints that Jordan wasn’t sure normal Crabs usually had then clicked as it took aim. Then with both precision and speed that would have put a pro javelin thrower to shame, it launched the branch like a spear aimed straight at the drone. Seeing what was about to happen, Jordan had made an attempt to order the drone to try to evade and randomize the way it flew around. It was for naught, however, as the drone was then impaled and forcibly desummoned from taking too much damage.
But that distraction had bought him precious time. Time that the still working part of his brain made sure to tell him to make use of while the Crab was looking away. As Clovis had focused on the drone, a red gem of his own had appeared in Jordan’s hand. First things first, he needed to focus on his current condition.
Please be the healing Skill and not something else that won’t help, Jordan silently begged as he crushed the Healer’s gem. Thankfully, his body was then hit by a feeling that could only be described as warm, but in a soothing way.
He sharply inhaled as pressure around his lungs felt alleviated, allowing him to breathe again. His vision was now sharp once more as the fog in his mind almost entirely cleared up. Jordan’s head still felt rather sore and even a bit itchy. But it was now like the soreness that came in the days that followed after a wound had closed up.
Jordan wasn’t sure how it compared to the Healer’s Skill back when she was actually alive. But for something that was only a one-time use versus just consuming it to gain a new Skill or evolution, it’d definitely proven that limitation to be worth it. While he wasn’t entirely back up to 100% in terms of his overall physical condition, it was more than enough for now.
“Oh? You dare to continue struggling, then?” Clovis said while turning back to him. The eyes extending over the top of its head seemed to regard the Human as he then stood back up.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Of course it’d heard the gem being crushed, in the same way he’d heard the same even from a distance while riding his drone. For something so small, they were apparently quite loud when being shattered. And with the relative quiet of the forest, it would have been almost impossible for the Crab not to notice the noise.
I already know the drones don’t do much, even the land drone from the first few shots it got off. Which means that my Energy Pistol also won’t do jack, even with Overcharge. Maybe if I can stack a few uses of Overchage into the land drone’s guns, but would I have time for that? Screw it, then. If my best tools don’t work, then I might as well keep trying something else I have. In for a penny, in for a pound. Steeling his resolve, Jordan was forced to quickly make a decision.
From his pocket space, he pulled out another gem. A part of him was silently thankful that the System allowed the item taken to be directly from what he willed, and not something that had to be actually rummaged around for. I mean that even though all the Advancement Crystals shared a nearly identical appearance, he already knew exactly which one was currently in his hand.
“Ahah, do you truly think such things can save you now?! It matters not how many such crystals you have in stock, Human! It will not save you from the retribution deserving of one who dares reject the generosity of the Golden Prince! Behold, and quake before the full power of this humble servant of the glorious one!” Clovis boasted before growing to become even larger.
Over the course of just a mere second, the Crab’s size had nearly doubled as the result of what had to be one of its Skills. But at the same time, there was the sound of Jordan crushing another gem. All he could do now was rely on the look he’d taken at the notes of the Skills his group members had listed, and hope that both his memory was correct and the random Skill inside was favorable.
A second later, it appeared as if nothing had happened. When Jordan had used the healing gem, it hadn’t come with an inherent understanding of the one-use Skill. The same was the case for this gem, from the Time Mage, as it quickly felt like a total dud. Had he accidentally just used the Passive Skill or something?
At the same time, the now even more giant Crab had finished its speech, and now ran right for him with a massive claw raised up. And despite the increase in its size, it only moved faster than before.
“Fuck! Come on, come on!” Jordan practically begged the next one to be better as his legs got moving. He also began to cast Summon Land Drone, but that would take a couple of seconds to finish. With how quickly the Crab was going, that might end up being too long. Especially considering that it’d take even longer for it to accelerate, even if he used Overcharge to boost its speed from the start.
The third Advancement Crystal he took out was from the Pyromancer. While he couldn’t remember the exact details, he knew that all her Skills were highly offense-orientated around fire. And that there was at least one Skill that was like a pretty decently ranged flamethrower. That was one he was hoping to get and point back at the Crab.
He’d see how it liked getting cooked alive, as its own huge shell turned its body into a living oven for its insides!
Just as his land drone began to appear, Jordan crushed the gem. With the attack hopefully enough to at least hurt the Crab, it should at least give him a chance to hop on his drone and-
From his hand, a blast of fire went out in all directions. Like the fireball of explosion with the broken gem as the center, it consumed Jordan and instantly caught the dry bed of leaves aflame. Jordan barely managed to let out a scream as his Engineer’s Uniform only resisted the heat for a few seconds, before it began to burn with his now melting skin. His flesh practically bubbled as his hand and arm were simply gone, completely blown off by the blast itself.
The possibility that the Skill within an Advancement Crystal could harm him as the user had never once popped into his mind. Because why would it? The designer of such a mechanic would have to be particularly cruel to make it that way, and without ever warning the user about such a thing being possible. Yet even though his last thoughts were of shock, horror, and regret, they wouldn’t have to last very long.
Not when the scream was soon cut short. Partially because his cooking lungs had quickly turned the yell into a raspy whisper. But mostly because when the pain almost immediately became too great to deal with, his mind simply shut down. As the world turned black, Jordan would never have believed that out of everything, this would be how he died.
And then… he was back.
Back to a previous moment in time, as if the last few seconds simply hadn’t occurred. Jordan was still standing there, having just crushed the Time Mage’s gem. He could still feel the heat of being burned alive, but he also understood that the feeling was just in his head. The Crab looked around, having just grown in size. But even it seemed to also remember the future they had just experienced and was now clearly confused about what had just happened.
A mental lightbulb then lit up above his head. The gem hadn’t been just a Passive or something useless after all! It’d rooted him to that point in time when the Skill was used, and then pulled him back. Before the Crab could shake off its obvious bewilderment, he needed to act. Once again, Jordan pulled out the Pyromancer’s crystal. But this time, he knew what had to be done to get things right.
Jordan threw the gem, only calling out when it was already mid-air. “Hey ugly! Catch and enjoy that as a little gift!”
As it flew through the air, the distance between them was short. The Crab’s eyes affixed on the crystal as it caught the bits of light that managed to fit through the canopy.
“No!” Clovis cried out with terror, only now knowing what would happen. Its enlarged form only made it an easier target to throw something at. So they both knew that the future would repeat itself, but with just a different individual as the victim.
The Advance Crystal shattered around the middle of the giant’s shell. With a high-pitched scream of its own, it flailed before attempting one last, desperate charge at Jordan. But before it could even close the gap, the Crab stumbled on its own legs, causing it crash into the ground with a loud thud.
Both drones already appearing at his side while also drawing his gun, Jordan wasted no time in immediately following it up. From what was basically a small firing squad, shot after shot of energy blasts hit a target that was simply too big to ever miss, even as it rolled around. They didn’t stop until after the minute that it took for his foe to finally become still. And even then, Jordan only commanded them to cease after the confirmation he’d been waiting for then appeared a few more seconds later.
Initial Merger Slain!
Doubled Experience Earned!
+112 EXP
On the evening of the second day of the Merging, the smell of cooked Crab filled a certain forest. Along with it was the smell and smoke of leaves as they turned into kindling for a quickly spreading wildfire. Jordan covered his face with his arm as the smoke was already starting to get into his breathing.
With that kind of blaze, there was no way he was going to go in now to collect the Advancement Crystal and whatever loot might have just left the pocket space. Especially now then the very real memory of burning to death was still fresh on his mind. He’d have to wait for the flames to die out on their own, and then get whatever remained later. For the time being, anyway, there was a far more pressing matter at hand.
The Crab had clearly been expecting him. Which meant that a certain someone had set him up to die. And now, more likely than not, would likely still be found loitering in his Kingdom.
That was simply not something he was just going to roll over and accept. No way in Hell.