Anima Syphon is now Level 2!
…
Anima Syphon is now Level 5!
Aurelian hit the wave of arachnids in a flurry of violence and quick dodges.
His crest rose and fell with focused aggression and precision, and Aurelian drowned out the sounds of battle echoing from where Bahamut, Karsys, and Zylara were still seeing to the crippled Behemoth—which was, by all accounts, still giving a respectable showing in spite of its grievous injuries.
The chaos of his personal combat consumed him, and Aurelian committed to his task with grim focus. Where before he had gone for clean bisecting strikes or decapitating blows, now instead he sought to instead land crippling or killing blows against the Skarnids’ spinal columns and core anatomy.
His Dragon’s Gaze burned mana still while he fought, and the time was rapidly approaching when he would need to conserve energy in lieu of using the skill with reckless abandon. He could feel himself building toward crescendo with several of his abilities, and was wary of having to delay a potential Tempering due to the madness of the combat he’d thrown himself into.
Aurelian’s brief experimentation with Anima Infusion had paid dividends, however, and he had developed an interestingly exacting understanding of how the Skarnid physiology was built—and where the most critically vulnerable parts of their anatomy were located.
When one of the creatures attempted a flanking strike, Aurelian used a focused blast of lightning to ward off three others. With them momentarily disgaged, he pivoted on his heel and—trusting to Dragon’s Sanguination—allowed the Skarnid’s tail to screech off of his armour. Aurelian rolled beneath the beast, flourished his crest in his hand and stabbed it upward with precision toward where he knew the Skarnid’s heart was located, at the forward half of its body just below its central spine.
The moment his blade pierced through the chitin, obliterated its heart, and narrowly avoid the spine: the creature spasmed. Its body jerked drunkenly, Aurelian threw himself free of it, and then its legs failed and the monster dropped to the ground with a final death rattle and thud of impact.
Aurelian immediately harnessed his Anima Syphon ability to draw his tithe from the corpse, and momentarily considered how little each of the contradictingly large beasts was worth. He assumed it had to do with the vast levels of corruption seething within their bodies, or else Anima in general demanded a far higher life force tithe than he’d realized in order to raise its reserves.
Aurelian’s thoughts were interrupted by another Skarnid, and he dashed away from a rapidly stabbing stinger as the beast sought to end him in his momentary distraction. Aurelian raised his crest in response, and slashed a deep gash into one of the horse-sized spider-scorpion’s immense pincers to ward it off while circulating mana in his body.
The moment the Skarnid shrieked at him, Aurelian launched himself off his feet with the full value of his Strength stat, and spun to face it while hurtling backward through the air on momentum alone. “Firebolt!” he roared while pointing his left hand at the creature’s maw.
The globule of corrosive and corrupted spit that it had summoned to shoot at him—which Dragon’s Gaze had alerted him to—was hit by the Firebolt while inside the Skarnid’s maw. The result was a small detonation that, upon meeting the viscous ooze that filled the Skarnid’s internals, escalated to a full-blown concussive explosion.
Aurelian was thrown away from the erupting beast with a snarl of pain and some definite bruising along his body even in spite of the protection from his runic warplate. The good news was that the disruption appeared to have pulled the other Skarnids up short out of momentary fear or wariness of what he might do to them in turn.
The bad news was that there was not a sliver of Anima to be had from the exploded Skarnid. That did make some manner of sense, Aurelian supposed while he grimly picked himself up off the ground, and looked at what remained of the Skarnid: four legs, three one the right and one on the left, and half of an underbody still burning with flames from the sudden combustion.
The rest of the creature was scattered across over a dozen meters of ground.
Fire Resistance is now Level 28!
You have gained Experience!
The lack of Anima to be syphoned also raised the question of sustainability.
That also begged the question of future practicality, and minion-building efficiency. How much would a regular monster or humanoid absent the vile corruption that all but consumed the Skarnids allow him to harvest, and how much would they in turn require for raising? The question spawned a rabbit hole of thought he knew he couldn’t entertain in that moment, however, and so he rolled his sore shoulders and mentally re-oriented himself to deal with the rest of the reduced horde.
More are coming, Aurelian! You must dispense with your foes quickly!
That, of course, was when Aurelian realised that the ‘horde’ wasn’t one at all.
It was simply the vanguard of a far larger concentration of the monsters.
Aurelian’s eyes widened in realization when he saw and heard the screeching cries of more Skarnids skittering and clacking toward his location in the near distance, and toward the locations of his embattled companions, from all over the ruined city.
“Fuck.” he said poignantly when realization struck him. How many years, centuries, perhaps even millennia had the creatures had to propagate? How many endless numbers of them must there have been not just in the ruined capital, but across the Desolation at large? Skarnids were very unlikely to be the apex predators, from what he’d read, which meant they were likely a very aggressive prey species for the true threats of the Desolation.
And prey species, Aurelian knew, populated rapidly.
I’m going to try something to even the odds. he sent back to Bahamut quickly. But it may not turn the tide immediately. Can you keep the bigger masses away from Zylara and Karsys while I work?
What of your own well-being? Bahamut questioned with a mental rumble.
I’ll be fine. You remember those Anima abilities?
Understanding bloomed across the bond, and Aurelian even detected approval.
I see. the Dragon sent back with a tone of savage glee. Very well. I shall aid our lesser companions, and you do as you must, Aurelian. Remind this swarm of insects why their forebears knew to fear the fury of a Dragonbound.
With pleasure. Aurelian sent back.
The entire conversation occurred at the speed of thought, and by time they finished Bahamut was winging his way toward the Skarnids encroaching upon Zylara and Karsys’ positions, the runes on his obsidian body lighting up riotously and flames erupting from his maw to scorch the front line of the first wave of advancing creatures closest to Karsys.
The chained explosions of Skarnids detonated by dragonfire were glorious.
Aurelian paid no more heed to the situation after that though—he had to focus, or else they would die—and instead assessed the Skarnids which had given him some wary distance after his last kill. His trick with Dragon’s Sanguination would not work easily a second time.
The Skarnids had observed his fighting style, and he could see the creatures’ evil intellect at work while they hissed and chittered at one another in rapid communication. Likely they were realizing he had changed his approach. After slaying another half-dozen of them in the new way, the remaining two dozen or so of the initial vanguard appeared far less willing to needlessly close distance with him.
Anima Syphon is now Level 6!
For all that they looked like large bugs, they were dangerously intelligent.
If they were going to give him time, however; Aurelian wasn’t going to waste it. His eyes remained warily attentive to the hesitating and chittering monsters, but he moved quickly back to the corpse of the Skarnid he’d most recently slain and pressed his hand to it.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
With a flex of his will, Anima Infusion activated.
The flood of Anima that left his body immediately thereafter was more expected when it came, and Aurelian weathered it with far less shock than the first time it had happened. Based on his calculations, he’d accrued close to 30 Anima from the Skarnids he’d slain. Of that, 25 points had been invested into the corpse before him.
Given each Skarnid was only worth 3, that was a very grim conversion rate.
The tether he’d felt in his first experimental necromancy snapped into place between him and the dead arachnid as Aurelian established his power over the corpse. When the bond between himself and the dead monster flared to life, it was once again a cord of vivid cardinal red he could both see with Dragon’s Gaze and feel through his Soulforce.
Nothing happened immediately however, and Aurelian felt a subtle System-born encouragement nudging him toward a repetition of a previous action. With a mix of retroactive embarrassment and shameless amusement, Aurelian spoke as the instinct in him bade.
“Arise.”
The result was far different than the first time he’d attempted the feat.
Firstly and most impressively, the entire corpse changed colour as the Anima roared from inert to active within it, and the mottled grey-brown carapace became instead a deep ebony that glimmered with a reflective sheen in the harsh sunlight of the Desolation. Veins of bright scarlet ran the length of its body, culminating in a crest upon its back that represented—to Aurelian’s bewilderment—what he could only describe as a roaring dragon, its wings out flared.
Where the previous Skarnid corpse, headless and thereby flawed, had raised itself up like a malfunctioning animatronic; this time the movement was both smoother and infinitely more menacing. A sigh like an inverse death-rattle left the monstrous arachnid’s undead maw, and it rose from the ground with a single fluid motion that was definitely unnatural.
Anima Infusion is now Level 2!
Congratulations, Aurelian Lucis Imperius!
Hidden Conditions Met!
You are the first being outside of the Blood Lords of Eld to raise an Anima Arisen succesfully! Such a feat has been attempted by beings of every level of power, including the incumbent God of Death himself! You have succeeded where even a god failed, and have achieved something thought impossible in every corner of the Realms!
Achievement: No Rest For The Wicked!
For successfully achieving an hitherto unmatched feat of magic, you have received the following:
1 x Codex Sanguinaris
1 x [Essence of the Sanguine]
1 x [Blood Lord’s Chalice]
Would you like to claim these rewards now?
Y / N
“Okay. That is fucking cool.” Aurelian said with quiet appreciation for both the Skarnid he’d ‘raised’ and the Achievement he’d been awarded, though he declined claiming the rewards immediately. He could worry about those when he wasn’t fighting for his life, brief pause or not. His eyes roamed over the creature’s body, and he took note of how it held itself—calm, cold, and predatorily silent.
The still-living Skarnids, by comparison, were chittering in alarm.
For some reason he couldn’t understand, they seemed afraid to close distance.
The ‘reforged’ Skarnid turned to Aurelian, and its glowing crimson eyes met his.
A kind of savage, dark intelligence connected suddenly to Aurelian through the newly forged link—and he just barely felt the moment the newly risen creature tried to instinctively break his control, or assert its own as a form of backlash. Thanks to Dragon’s Resolve, that attempt failed so quickly and so decisively that Aurelian almost didn’t notice it.
The second its attempts were rebuffed, however, the creature’s mental state became instantly compliant—and it simply stood, its wound sealed by the restorative effects of the Anima that raised it, and its chitinous exoskeleton had not even a blemish to be seen. The wafting sense of corruption normally present in the creatures also seemed to be gone, and it almost seemed smoother to his eyes, with a greater symmetry and elegance to its ‘design’.
Aurelian used Revelate the moment he remembered to.
Name: Arisen Skarnid
Race: Undead (Anima Arisen)
Level: 24
Tier: Novice
Health: 1450 / 1450
Description: Skarnids are twisted predators that thrive in the Desolation, and stalk its corrupted lands for prey with which to sate their consuming hunger. This Skarnid has been raised from the dead by the power of Anima, imitating the power of the Blood Lords of Eld. As a result it has undergone purification of its corruption, been remade in its purest and truest incarnation, and marked by the essence of its Infuser.
Special Condition(s): Anima Arisen do not require sustenance, do not require rest, and can syphon the Anima of slain foes to repair any damage done to their undead bodies. They are loyal only to their Infuser, and will obey any command without reservation.
The Arisen’s level had dropped to match his own, which was consistent with everything Aurelian had suspected about minions, be it the Realms or in the video games he suspected subtly reflected them. Minions were never able to out-pace their masters, usually. The fact its health was almost half again greater than his was more of a surprise, but a welcome one. The creature’s physiology and natural armour likely contributed to that fact.
Most importantly, the Arisen Skarnid was just cool.
“Woah. Woah.” Aurelian’s eyes darted from the Arisen Skarnid to the chittering mass of its corrupted once-brethren, and then back to the Arisen. A sense of impatient demand emanated from the creature in both thought and gaze, and Aurelian blinked in surprise. The Arisen’s intent was conveyed by impressions rather than words or thoughts as he defined them, and yet Aurelian understood it perfectly.
The creature wanted orders. It yearned to serve. It yearned to fulfil its purpose.
Aurelian smiled slowly, and knew exactly what to say.
“Kill.”
The instant he finished saying the word, down to the moment the last consonant was fully formed in the air, the Arisen roared and surged toward the hesitating and shocked swarm of living Skarnids. Chitters and screeches of alarm very different from the Arisen’s roar met its aggressive charge, and Aurelian watched with quiet fascination as his new minion engaged its former kin in brutal conflict.
The first thing he noticed was that the Arisen spared no thought for self-preservation, and fought with a single-minded brutality that made the creature it had been in life look tame by comparison. Its pincers tore at the legs of the living Skarnids with a hateful intensity that Aurelian found surprising, and its tail stabbed out at them with lightning-fast precision.
Each strike of his Arisen’s stinger punched through chitin, and Aurelian watched with enraptured fascination as the scarlet lines upon the creature’s body glowed each time its stinger found purchase. With a shock, Aurelian realised that it was syphoning Anima with its stinger as opposed to injecting any kind of venom, and that each time it did the scarlet lines lit up with light to signify its successful absorption.
When the first Skarnid died, the Arisen seemed to immediately dismiss the corpse from notice—even going so far as to turn away before it had even hit the ground. Through his tether to the creature, Aurelian could feel a shockingly alive sense of satisfaction and even targeted hatred from the Arisen, as if the living Skarnids somehow offended it by existing.
“Yeah.” Aurelian said quietly. “I am definitely getting an army of these things.”
Given the threat facing Sanctuary, he would likely need it too.
Another chorus of screeches stole his attention, and Aurelian turned to where more Skarnids were rapidly approaching his position—and that of his Arisen. His small vacuum moment of peace shattered in that instant, and Aurelian cursed himself for getting distracted. He’d been so wrapped up in his new minion, and the way that the Skarnids reacted to it, that he’d failed to remember the actual threat.
Despite the fact it had been less than a minute between gaining the Arisen and it engaging in battle, Aurelian’s peanut gallery indulgence had cost him critical moments to prepare—and he launched himself forward with a curse. If he wanted more minions with which to aid Sanctuary, then he needed to ensure the ones he did raise survived. Right now, that meant his singular Arisen.
The battle would give him plenty more opportunities to raise his army.
Why are you standing still like a fool, Aurelian?! We will soon be overwhelmed by these vermin! Snap out of your fugure, and admire your new pet when we have the luxury for slack-jawed distraction!
A simultaneous roar from Bahamut rippled across the earth along with his message, Aurelian knew he truly had wasted too much time. His soulbond’s recrimination was an impression and emotion rather than words, but Aurelian accepted it without reservation.
He had become distracted, and though Bahamut had been too busy initially to notice, the Dragon had rightly acted the moment that Aurelian’s distraction had come to his attention. With Karsys and Zylara having finally dispatched the Behemoth and even then working to evade the Corrupted Skarnids attempting to swarm them, while Bahamut aided them with fire from above; Aurelian realized belatedly how little time he had left.
He needed to swing the odds of the fight quickly, else his new and only real friends in the insane new world he found himself in would be lost, and he’d likely die right alongside them.
“First things first: harvest more Anima.” he said while charging toward the massing Skarnids. “We can worry about more Arisen after that!”
Aurelian circulated his mana and crashed into the battle with a snarl.
Their fight against the Skarnids, he knew, was only just beginning.