Chapter 102
Lykan
The Escape
Lykan felt the hairs on the back of his neck arose in unison as he heard the slurp-scraping sound of movement from down the hallway. The moment he opened his eyes from his meditation pose he saw multiple thick platinum-colored lines leading away from his current spot and down the hallway, from there he could see how multiple lines broke off into different directions. Each direction seemed to lead to a different hallway with similarly disturbing sounds coming from them.
Curious, Lykan arose from his seated position and began quietly walking down the main hallway that all threads of future missions seemed to lead from. As he stepped down, his foot landed in the solidified Qi, causing a quick reaction where the solidified energy began pulsing through his foot. Feeling the surge of energy and not wanting the distraction Lykan once again took to the air, while trying to avoid the golden Qi on the floor. This time flight was almost natural as he circulated Mana throughout his second set of meridians.
In a way he felt almost guilty for circulating Mana through his meridians, they were a reward from the Gods for something he didn’t do. Or at least reward for a kill he didn’t feel like he earned. There was nothing he could have done; the monster was a Titan, a being that even the Gods couldn’t kill if that one’s wounds were any sign. Yet, by merely waking it up and hiding he received a full blessing from the gods. Though he felt his reward was slightly less than truly fighting a Titan to the death would yield. He had been healed, one of the lowest forms of a blessing one could receive from the Gods. Yet, the way he was healed and the extent to which he was healed, that meant everything to him.
Even now he only had the will to go exploring the strings of fate that the gods had assigned because of his healed body. Had he still been injured, Lykan would have made for the nearest exit and left. Even now his mind tracked ways and routes he could take to go up a floor. The most obvious escape hatch was within the control room, but there were more all throughout the structure. Worse Lykan wondered what other training sessions on ways to use Qi he could have gained had he left the power to the station on.
If there was a question about whether he made the correct move by shutting the facility down, there was no doubt. His only concern now was whether he shut the facility down too quickly. Could he have prepared for the Titan? Could he have conducted more training before the facility was destroyed. Now that he knew, the entire process was easy. He even felt he could do this again, should he find another such Titan facility.
What did they call this place again? A Terraforming facility? Lykan asked himself as he followed the thickest and likely closest thread of platinum.
Slither.
“Hiss.”
Muffled bang.
There were sounds coming from directly up ahead. Already flying with his Mana, Lykan then decided to try to oscillate his Qi while flying. While he had tested both independently, his mind made simple work of performing both steps in unison. While such processes would have been tough or nearly impossible while he was younger, his enhanced mind and body could do so easily now.
He moved forward instinctively, an invisible flying hunter scouting an unknown prey. But the closer he got, the more he saw Qi fluctuations moving ahead. While the corridor was completely dark, the ambient rays of Qi coming from the beast ahead were unmistakable to his new senses. In fact, the solidified Qi on the floor also served as a good light source showing where he came from, and guiding him, should he need to make an immediate escape.
Muffled bang, bang, bang.
He rounded a bend in the hallway to find the source of Qi coming from under a door. Even the trails of Qi generated light came from under the door. A door that was now beginning to bend and buckle under pressure and banging.
BOOM!
Grooaaannn.
There was one final thud, and then a long groan of metal being forced out of its shape by immense force and pressure. Lykan’s eyes watched as the door crumpled to the ground, followed by the head of a giant worm-like monster. A seemingly familiar looking worm-ish monster
With a shock, Lykan realized where he had seen the monster, or at least part of the monster as most of the monster was hiding behind the all too small door frame. This was the giant forty plus meter tall monster that craved flesh. The one that the observation deck had been built to view. Curious Lykan wondered how the creature managed to get up the walls if it hadn’t done so to this point. That question was quickly dismissed as there were more pressing questions now. Namely, how could he stop such a creature.
His mind also quickly registered the fact that the closest platinum line that he had been given by the gods was also directly linked to the giant, albeit momentarily stuck monster before him.
A chill ran down Lykan’s spine. He wondered if he should run again, but then thought differently. The gods didn’t give him a challenge color for the Titan, likely realizing that such a test was beyond him. Thus, he rationalized by the gods giving him the platinum path before him, he likely had a way forward, a way to succeed.
The most obvious way forward was this moment. The worm was struggling to force its girth through the door frame that refused to yield to the worm’s massive girth. This was as perfect as an opportunity as Lyakn felt he would ever get, as he realized that either his invisibility was good enough to fool the creature or it was too preoccupied with its own digging its way out to even notice him.
Feeling resolve fill him, he flew forward gathered Qi in his fists, then dove down onto the head of the monster.
Wham, wham, wham.
Three quick Qi infused strikes crashed into the eyes and perceived soft spots of the beast. It was an alien species and Lykan wasn’t even certain if it had eyes or not. Given that it was underground for so long Lykan felt that eyes were likely unnecessary and that the open sockets he struck were likely some types of nerve cluster. Either way Lykan felt confident in his striking of the spots.
“SCREECH!” The massive worm let out a pitiful roar as it lurched its barely stuck head back with a violent motion. Within seconds the worm snapped its head back through the door frame. This caused a series of reactions as the worm then began to fall like a string of rope that was suddenly untethered and allowed to fall. Lykan watched in shocked curiosity at the sight.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Fortunately, Lykan was still circulating his Mana as he quickly recovered from the beast, as he was relatively unaffected by the release and subsequent falling of the giant worm.
Thud!
Lykan heard a thud as the giant beast fell. Following the beast inside Lykan realized a few things almost immediately. First this was not the same forty-meter-tall monster he noticed earlier. Second the way this monster escaped originally was by winding its way up the outside of the walls of the oversized observation tube.
Lykan had read about and managed to see snakes use a similar method for climbing the outside of a tree trunk. In this case, these worms did the inverse, using their muscles to press out and provide force to the outside walls so it could climb its way up. This also caused problems for the creature, for when it fell, the head fell down the center hole before pulling the rest of its coiled body down upon it.
Looking down Lykan could see the monster squirming and wriggling violently trying to escape from its precarious position. Fortunately, while the tube was bigger than its overall size, the spacing was tight enough that the monster could not move freely especially while pinned by its own weight.
Taking a moment to breath, Lykan almost felt a chuckle come from his mouth as he saw the giant worm squirm and wiggle. This was like having a giant turtle get turned upside down then shoved in a tube where it didn’t have enough room to fully extend its legs or create any rocking motion. This is of course assuming the turtle was a giant alien monster that would likely destroy parts of the world if it was able to be released and adapt to an alien environment.
A chill ran down Lykan’s spine as he realized why he had suddenly been given the eight paths all at once. He needed to stop not just the one but likely seven other worms, or terrible creatures that would cause problems for the world if they were left to spread and adapt. Idly Lykan wondered how much of the world’s 61.5% conversion was an unforeseen side effect of having dragons released on the world.
Lykan gave one last look down at the still squirming worm, before breaking away and trying to follow the thread to the next closest monster that was attempting to escape. Realizing that the strand to this still wiggling worm was whole and intact Lykan let out a breath. Then forcing his mind into a quick meditative state, he gave into the fact that he knew what he must do.
Running forward, Lykan hurdled over the railing that served to protect the viewers from the giant worm below. Lykan jumped, his body glowing with the flows of Qi in his body. By now he was so used to strengthening parts of his body with Qi that it was almost second nature to him. In this case he focused heavily on his feet and his fists.
Angling his body forward, he focused his body so his fists would land first. This time just like before he felt the surge of Qi flow into his hands, strengthening them and filling his body with glowing energy. This time though he had emotions to tap into. Emotions that gave him extra energy.
He tapped into the fear that caused him to cower while a Titan searched for him, threatening destruction. He tapped into the frustration of so many conflicts happening on the surface of the planet that now all seemed trivial. He tapped into those emotions and let the energy of his emotions bond with his Qi, letting the anger he was now feeling fuse with his Qi. As he did, he felt a fire erupt out first from his core then going down to his feet and hands. Now rather than just glowing Lykan’s hands seemed to burn with an intense blue flame that sprung from his clenched fists.
Lykan of course was too focused on the moment, on landing his blow perfectly on the exposed underside of the giant wyrm creature. His eyes and body were already focused on an area where a Qi core was clearly glowing brightly to Lykan’s growing senses. Before he had a chance to fully understand what he was doing, he struck out.
[Searing Fist]
BOOM!
Lykan landed fist out, the full weight of his fall adding to the punch that exploded out from his fists and into the glowing core that was held tightly in the giant wyrm’s body. It was a perfect hit, the beast was stuck, immobile and Lykan had made full use of his one chance.
Thud.
Lykan’s body collapsed into the wyrm, whose body was already crumpling like a deflated blimp. The collapsing of the wyrm’s body from the stress and force of Lykan’s strike also served to help mitigate a lot of the impact Lykan’s body took from his fall. Not that he cared, now he had a monster to kill and the only weapon he had at his command was his own body. Fortunately, that was enough.
Burning fists struck repeatedly against the writhing wyrm’s body. Each strike caused the giant creature to toss and turn. With one burning fist Lykan reached into the body, grabbed at the first glowing core, and easily ripped it out. Compared to the massive threads of Qi that protected the Titan, this giant wyrm’s body was little more than paper by comparison. The differences between the monsters here and the caretakers were like night and day. A part of Lykan’s mind, the part that was not consumed with the throes of battle realized why the Titan’s kept such monsters, for they had no fear of such beasts. Clearly there was nothing this wyrm could do against the Titan. Realizing that changed nothing, other than let him realize he had so much further to go.
Wham, wham, wham.
Lykan struck out burning fists plunging into and through the thick scales that made up the beast’s stomach lining. Then with a burning knife hand Lykan reached into the beast’s stomach and pulled out the still pulsing core of the creature.
“WRHRAHHAHH!” The creature cried out in pain and began wiggling violently. Part of Lykan’ saw that the beast had been moving all this time, that it had been positioning its head to be in the center of the room they were in. That even now the way its body was positioned was made in such a way to funnel Lykan down to its open maw. It was a good plan, one that Lykan had to give the creature credit for. It was a plan that likely would have worked, if Lykan didn’t have the ability to fly.
Even when he lost his footing and felt his body begin to slip and slide down, a quick rotation of his Mana let him maintain his optimal position. Unfortunately for the beast its gambit of moving its head into such a precarious position meant that it was further stuck, as its head was now stuck in place under layers of its over-sized body. With that realization Lykan struck out, over and over. With each strike understanding of his burning fists and how to summon them at will became ingrained in his mind.
Towards the end he too to summoning the flames and then unsummoning them from his fists in alternating strikes, wanting to see and feel the stress and strain of each punch on his body and mind.
Finally, the glow of Qi in the wyrm’s body died. Lykan struck out over and over. Only once he received a Divine Blessing for his actions did he stop to realize the battle, if he could call it that, was over.
Blessing Bestowed: Colossal Wyrm Slayer
Colossal Wyrm Slayer (Legendary): You managed to slay one of the eight legendary colossal wyrms. Reward: All Attributes increased by +3. Note: This blessing can be received multiple times.
Skill Name Base Plus Advancement Rating Unarmed Mastery: Adept + (Unknown) Expert
As soon as he received the blessing a glowing light of energy filled Lykan’s body, as he felt the touch of the Gods even here. That alone was enough to cause Lykan to relax a little. Knowing that even though he was in the Titan’s lair, he was still under the purview of the Gods was a comforting feeling for Lykan. One that he used to adjust his mind and help him relax.
Lykan took a second to collect himself as he felt every aspect of his body increase slightly. The reward wasn’t too much, but he had the chance to get the same blessing seven more times, at least. That alone was worth the effort. Additionally, Lykan now had the ability to take in the cores from the monsters he slew. In a way Lykan felt like he as some sort of vampire, sucking away the residual life energy of a slain foe. Then again Lykan was beyond the realm of caring about such things. He had a goal, one that had been given to him by the Gods, but one that he fully believed in as well. These Wyrms needed to be stopped, followed by the hundreds of facilities just like this that were apparently all over the world. Facilities that were constantly working even now, corrupting the world to summon forth the Titans who would then conquer their world. Worse, Lykan knew that he was one of the few people who could come here. Only those whose mana was permanently sealed within their bodies could come. Meaning only a Null.
A fleeting thought about how the gods had seemingly contradicted themselves by both making him a null and giving him access to his mana once more. While he could only use the mana for flight currently, that was more than enough, just knowing that his soul was there was enough for him. Even now he felt grateful that he was once again able to not only feel, but use the phantom limb, even if it was in just a limited capacity.
Taking a moment to look around, Lykan finally saw the item he had been searching for, the glowing Qi core lying on the far side of the tunnel. Lykan had thrown it away originally, as he tried to kill the creature as quickly as possible. Now that he had a moment, he took the core, dusted off some of the blood and viscera then inserted the core into his mouth so he could begin consuming the lifetime’s worth of energy that the colossal wyrm had managed to obtain.
As soon as he tasted the Qi, glowing waves of energy flooded Lykan’s body filling him with relief. Relief that his reserves were now full once more and he could begin trying to weave even more Qi threads throughout his body.
With his enhanced Intelligence Attribute, and his Focus, and Meditation skills maxed out Flying towards the next Colossal Wyrm and weaving were easy. He knew he would have to stop his progress once he entered battle, but the entire time he made his way towards the next target was time he would use to improve his body as quickly and efficiently as possible. He had mastered the breathing meditation portion of Qi and the movement while circulating Qi. Now he needed to take the next step, to force his body to improve while fighting. With that concept of improvement in mind, of rising to the power level of a Titan and beyond Lykan moved towards the next target.