“Allanath! No, you monster!” The cry of the second wolf resonated through the still darkness of the jungle, scaring several creatures causing them to dart away from the heated battle. With eyes filled with tears the mangle charged.
I threw the body of his friend to the side and let him latch his teeth onto my arm, doing 30 damage. The jaws of this monster were not something to take lightly. The ease it had in piercing my flesh made me wonder how quickly it could slice through my neck. My health was now at 94. Although I did respect the power of the mangles bite it didn’t matter. At this moment I was at the top of my mental game.
I grabbed him by his head and ripped him off my arm, making sure to keep a tight hold. He jostled about, doing his best to get free, but my 16 strength was more than enough to deal with whatever his attributes were. Just like I did with his companion, I began to rain down blows, dealing 72 damage for the first hit, then 75 for the second.
I stopped before delivering the final blow and just looked at the guy. He was unconscious, barely breathing, and his jaw was hanging, likely dislocated. The power I had gained from my Firmament was crazy. This monster, that was likely a step stronger than most things I had faced up until this point, was helpless against me. I knew this was only because it wasn’t a Formed Mangle, but still. The power difference was staggering.
The lizard, who looked like he wanted to dart outta here, moved to attack me, after noticing the wolf was still breathing. Unlike the other two, he kept his distance, grabbing rocks and other debris to throw at me. Most of what he tossed did zero damage, or I simply dodged them. Every once in a while, though, a large rock would manage to strike me, because of the darkness, and do 3 or 4.
From the way he acted, I knew that the lizard at least slightly cared for his companion, which was a huge surprise to me. I had categorized these guys under the ‘disposable cowardly grunts’ archetype, and fully expected him to run.
My eyes glossed over the dead wolf, who almost camouflaged on the unlit ground. His face smashed in and bloody, his eyes open frozen in an expression of fear, and his fur coat caked in fresh red.
I held out my hand to the rock thrower. “Stop,” I commanded.
The reptile ceased his assault, but kept a stone in one hand.
“It doesn’t matter what you do now. I have a skill that’ll probably heal me fully, and even if you're faster than me, in this jungle, I’ll eventually catch you. Keeping all that junk in mind, I want to make a deal.”
The look of astonishment on his face was priceless, like a man who just won the lottery. “You lie, human. Your kind are not known for your mercy.” He glanced at the dead wolf.
“That makes sense, but you guys are the ones who attacked us, remember that.”
We locked eyes again. A weird, chittering noise came from his throat, which I assume was acknowledgement of what I was saying.
I lowered my hand. “The terms of the deal are simple. I want information, I want the dead body, I want whatever you have that is useful, and I want you to leave. In return for those, I promise I will give your companion back, I will let you walk away without any tricks, and I won’t take any provisions that are necessary for your survival out there.”
A few minutes went by, which felt like an eternity. In that time, the lizard hardly moved, only turning his head when there was a noise out in the underbrush. I had a feeling he might be trying to buy time, but if everything was going according to plan, the scorpion should have his hands full.
“What do you want to know?”
The tension in the air lessened.
“What makes you so confident in your scorpion buddy?”
The lizard dropped the rock in his hand and his body loosened. “You actually intend to let me get away for some answers and some items?”
“I do. I’m not the kind of guy who likes to kill just because it's happening all around me. Now answer the question.”
The wolf in my hand started to cough blood and the lizard's face twisted in a kind of worry.
“Rubar is a five-sixths Formed One. It is the strongest a Formless One can be before their body sheds its mortal coil, gaining the skin of the stars and undergoing Formation.”
These three weren’t Formed Mangle? I guess that explains why they were nervous when this all started, but still I almost died to these guys. It almost felt like the information he was giving me was disrespectful to the effort and focus I put into this fight. Whatever, when I get used to how my abilities and this system worked I’ll be smacking Formed Ones left and right. I hope.
Apparently there were levels to how close a Mangle was to being a Formed One, levels that made them look like their stronger variant. There was so much I didn’t know about these guys.
Tons of different questions came to my mind. I knew I didn’t have enough time to ask all of them, so I started with the most prevalent. “What happens when you become a six-sixths Formed One? Do you instantly change, or is the process long?” I needed as much knowledge on these guys as I could get. Even the false information he might give me could be useful.
A moment of odd silence came over the two of us as the lizard pondered the question. Something about what I had asked seemed to be rubbing him the wrong way, like when someone questions how the baby is coming along when you're not even pregnant.
“Six-sixths? You do know that when the numerator and the denominator in a fraction are the same number, they become a whole, right? This is something humans understand, isn’t it?”
If my face were a lighter shade of brown, he would have been able to see the blood rush in.
“Screw you. You know what I mean. What happens when you get past that five-sixths barrier and start Formation?” I explained hurriedly. I could tell he would have laughed if I wasn’t currently holding his almost-dead friend.
“When a Formless One transitions into Formation, they lose almost all of their power until they find a suitable sacrifice for their transformation. When one is found, the Forming One molds themselves around the being and begins the process to take over their connection to the Mana Web. How the process comes along is individual for each Mangle and sacrifice pairing, but usually the first thing to succumb to the takeover is the mouth.”
The wolf started moving around, trying to gain consciousness. I didn’t think he would be as okay with my deal as the lizard was, so I needed to hurry things along.
“Last two questions. Where did you four come from? Is there a fortress, or veil nearby? And, can Rubar defeat a level 3 transformed human that’s flying around in a ship while fighting a giant iguana?”
As the second question left my mouth, the lizard’s eyes lit up, grasping the full scope of what I was asking.
“You clever human. You intended to keep us three busy with your large health pool and healing until the woman could kill Rubar with the help of one of the King Scales.” He bared his teeth.
I could feel a bit of anger flowing off him, and the wolf was shaking its head. Things were getting tense again, but I needed the answer to these questions.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Partly right. We expected you to be with Rubar, though. Instead, you circled back to ambush me,” I answered, hoping my explanation would lower the tension.
“Damn. In either case, you would have lasted and the King Scale would most definitely be able to kill Rubar.”
The wolf started blinking, and I could hear faint roars from the direction Makiel was in.
“Tell me where the rest of your army, or camp is. Now! Your friend is waking up and I don’t want to have to kill him because he can’t keep his emotions in check.” A little hypocritical, coming from me, but I needed to say something to get the lizard to talk quickly.
“Over three mountain ranges, opposite your camp, is a veil where 14 Logopells of Formed Empire soldiers stand ready for battle.”
“What the heck is a Logopell?” I asked.
The lizard shook his head and dropped several items onto the floor. “You said those were your last questions. I have dropped all that is on my person and some of what is in my inventory, and intend to leave as soon as you hand me the body of my ally. I have met every one of your conditions. If you are an honorable being, then you will let me go with no further questions.”
Shoot. He was right. As much as I wanted to keep him there and get every bit of info I could on him, I did say I only had two questions left.
He held out his arms, waiting for me to place the wolf into them. I was hesitant, but I slowly walked over, making sure to keep my surroundings in check, just in case it was a trap.
As we finally came face-to-face, I saw that the look of anger in his eyes wasn't fixated on me. They looked off, into the forest, and passed me. I gently lowered the wolf in his arms, and he turned from me, in the direction he told me the veil was located. A moment later, he began his march.
For a second, I heard a faint whisper in the wind that almost sounded like a, “Thank you,” but that couldn’t be the case. I looked at the dead wolf. After all, I still killed one of their own.
During our negotiations, some flies and a few devil lizards had tried to munch on the dead body, making it look like a genuine corpse. As I got close, several notifications popped up.
Victory
You have defeated an enemy in PVP combat. Congratulations!
Calculated rewards: 500XP, 1000GC tokens, and title: Benevolent
Achievement Obtained: Saladin
In the face of war, you maintained some semblance of humanity: Allowed at least 50% of your enemies to live after battle.
Reward: 500GC tokens can be cashed out at any GC sponsored shop. (This Achievement is stackable)
I saw ‘300XP’ float off the dead wolf and noticed two separate instances of ‘100XP’ float in the distance, where the lizard had walked off.
Looks like you get XP even if the enemy surrenders. Cool. On the top right corner of my HUD, opposite Illana’s sign, a ‘1000’ appeared, with a symbol that looked similar to the dollar sign.
I was about to check my stats, but my mind started to rush as I remembered Makiel. Quickly, I gathered as many of the items the lizard had dropped on the floor and shoved them into my ragged pockets. I didn’t have time to investigate every single one, but for the most part, they all looked like a type of potion.
Afterwards, I jogged over to the body and went through the popups to suck him up. Unlike before, where a large spike came out of my ear and ate the Mangle, a strange purple smoke rose up from under him and engulfed him until there was nothing left.
Obtained: Beast Mangle Matter (Common)
The power of the forests and jungles permeate this item. Increases the chance for Bleed effect when added to a recipe in crafting.
The second the body was added to my inventory list, I sprinted off in the direction of Makiel. As I ran, a loud, gruesome howl filled the jungle, like a pride of lions roaring in unison. Creatures from up in the trees, in the sky, and crawling on the ground began rushing away from the sound. I took a deep breath and increased my speed.
Eventually, I spotted the stolen Mangle ship embedded in the dirt of a large clearing, as if swatted to the ground. I searched the area, looking for signs of Makiel.
A large path led deeper in the brush. Following it, I came upon the absolutely destroyed remains of Rubar, the scorpion mangle. His tail was completely missing, the stump spewing out puss and a clear, sticky fluid, and his head only had half of its eyes. I was tempted to pull him into my inventory, but I needed to find Makiel before anything. The guilt of having come up with the plan to use Godzilla weighed on me.
My surroundings whipped past me as I feverishly ran. The syringe icon, indicating the Adrenaline buff, appeared on my HUD. I read its description as I raced through the jungle.
Adrenaline
+10 to pain numbing, +3 to perception, +3 to strength, +3 to speed. Ability 'Quick Thinking' is available.
When I finished reading the buff, I burst out into another clearing. I looked around. The area was as large as a basketball stadium and there were several massive rocks strewn about, like Stonehenge. The noise of battle sounded from the other side of a Walmart-supercenter-sized rock to my left.
I glanced at my health. It had recovered back to 194, which meant I was healing at a rate of 1HP every 3 seconds.
With that information, I climbed the two-story rock with strength and swiftness I had never known. Reaching the top, I looked down and saw Makiel, banged up, facing the Godzilla lizard.
Upon closer inspection, there was something different about the creature. Its eyes were glowing yellow and there were flaps around its head, making it resemble a dragon lizard. The scales on its body were a different shade than they had been in the morning. When I last saw this monster, its scales were a light green, with various hues of red and turquoise. Now, it was glowing a sinister crimson.
Makiel’s health was at 62, dangerously low, considering she didn’t have any way to heal herself.
I examined the monster.
King Scale (Level 6)
Description: The most powerful variant of the devil lizard species found on Hyperion. In the mornings, this creature maintains the look and attributes of its weaker counterparts, but when the night comes, it reveals its true strength. Sporting acid venom, scales as strong as steel, and claws hard enough to rend some mana-weaved armor, it is advised to avoid them if underprepared. HP: 500 to 750
Special Properties: Armor Breaking, Poisonous Bite, Steel Skin, Shadow Camouflage, Monstrous Roar
This particular King Scale had 650 health points. Above its name was a golden crown. Examining the crown brought me to a screen that was titled ‘Boss Battles’. I closed it out. There would be time to read up on the specifics later.
The monster swiftly lunged at Makiel, attempting to cut her with its claws. In the same situation, I would have been instantly gutted, not having the reflex or the speed to dodge that kind of attack, but Makiel moved before the creature had. She jumped, perfectly dodging the horizontal sweep, then ducked as soon as she hit the floor, expertly avoiding the hidden tail whip.
I marveled at her abilities and realized just how much stronger she was than me. The King Scale’s attack was much quicker than anything I could even think to muster right now. I needed to get stronger. Even with my upgrade, I was still fighting at a lower level than her, and that didn’t sit well with me. The whole point of me going through with this change was so that I could be of some use to those around me, and here I was, still at the bottom.
I shook my hands stopping the annoying thoughts before they went too far. I knew what I needed to improve on, and now wasn’t the time to lament.
I scanned the area, trying to find something that could help, but with little success. Not only was it dark and I couldn’t see a thing, but there was legitimately nothing around that could affect a creature this big.
I shrugged my shoulders. I guess clever thinking is out of the question. Time to just wing it.