Fatality was very useful, obvious to the amount of focus behind it. With enough power in the Blitz and without outputting too much away, Fatality can become an incredibly sharp tool.
Unlike Peak, it provided uses in other ways besides a simple potent thrust, followed by an extensive force of mana, momentum, and strength. Peak was the epicenter of Anatidae's offensive strength, whereas Fatality was following Blitz's momentum, which made it a special move.
But it wasn't universally acknowledged as a stronger ability than Peak because it was versatile. Peak or Blitz, both had some unique touch on Anatidae's beak. Some principles could be similar or with a similar idea behind them.
After all, what a beak had was physical limitations. Something that magic often couldn't change. At least on this level.
Peak had better brutish power than Blitz, but the point of Fatality was the peak of what Blitz could do. So it wasn't wrong or right to assume their uses. It was a follow-up ability after a simpler Fury.
It should be better with time. Everything should.
Peak was becoming clearer under Murai's touches as well, as it was closing on the limits of its starting leveling capacity. A lot of Murai's current arsenal was reaching that point, similar to his level which should be soon above Level 20, which was the general threshold of getting some abilities to the evolving threshold.
Levels of abilities of the same grade as one's Class should usually move in the same principles and levels, but it wasn't the rule. Anatidae Panacea was a Class D sub-species, meaning that every Level 1 Abiliy at Grade D would follow the leveling process similarly to his level. It implied balance.
Alas, it still depended on how one leveled them up, how one used them, and when, which was nothing more than readings of experience, familiarity, or following their uses. Proper Mana Blade, Shaping, and Peak were the closest to their respective limits of Level 20.
That was the general evolving threshold for any abilities, but some had their expectations or exceptions. For example, Murai doubted his Mana Shaping could evolve. It was one of the fundamentals of magic.
Fury and Detection went over the edge first, giving him blissful upgrades that he loved to use at every given opportunity. He used Detection fairly often before that, but not the Fury, which was weird. It probably moved quicker towards its evolution because of something going on with his species, familiarity, or something else. This temple either changed it, or he did it without knowing how.
Either way, he didn't want to complain about it. It still changed, giving him versatile additions that went along the Panacea sub-species.
Undead Captain was tasting the power of Blitz's Fatality onto its neck. Murai was a sneaky little duck by using this attack after it ignored him, attacking it from behind. Captain even offered its back, giving him this choice so easily, that Murai would never refuse it.
Fatality severed no connecting layers of armor, but it did go through a metallic latch where the helmet met the neck and shoulder plates. It was just enough space to let the little tip of his beak inside, smashing the latch apart. His ambush attack succeeded, and after angling and swirling his neck, it ensured his beak moved the rest aside, causing the helmet to tremble and loosen.
Murai pushed and used his weight and beak to snap the helmet away, severing it from the rest of the armor. As he suspected, the helmet wasn't that outlandish part of this whole armor set. Perhaps it wasn't even part of it, but a secondary addition.
It flew away, revealing the panicking skull of the Undead Captain, who stopped walking as it felt the sudden force behind its neck and flying helmet. It got angry, and its Soul Flames in its socket tried to look behind, but it was futile. Its burly-covered armored arms couldn't reach for him, or the helmet on the ground.
Murai laughed, looking at the dried skull that was quite edgy in appearance. It was a bit curved, almost inhumanly so, depicting not a human but it wasn't far from them.
Eye sockets were particularly wide, making even the flames thick and swirly. It was a prominent feature of the skull, glowing in flickering panic.
In all senses of purpose, the captain resembled a human on all fronts, because it held a nose, not particularly wide or strange mouth with normal teeth, and holes in ears were there as well. There were no horns on the smooth top of its skull.
A lot of devils or humans were looking similar to piles of bones that most undead were, but some features still made some differences. Horns were for devils as their most prominent aspects and their token of power, moving even through death to appear in all of their skeletons remains.
Demons were much stranger because their appearances were so varied, that it almost made no sense to think of their bones. Some looked human, some looked beastly, and others were nothing but sketchy life forms.
But some demons looked like humans, similar to the humans that looked like demons. Everything was somewhat connected at the wide spectrums of every race, poising as a large graph or a circle with millions of connecting lines.
It was the undeniable truth that made something like slavery laughably childish, but undeniably real in almost all tangible ways. Everyone wanted to feel special, which enabled all acts of violence. Greed was there too, as it was a very prominent truth.
At the end of the day, everyone might be similar to one another, when met with the End. Souls were that, but not the bones.
When one went to the Afterlife, all of that mattered even less when one became just a little dot of light that was subject to grand reincarnation and Afterlife. Physical bodies no longer matter.
Murai didn't care about any of that right now. He didn't care if this skull was all bony or scaly, or if it was tiny, big, or sketchy like a ball, rectangle, or shaped like an egg. He wanted to break it regardless of any features.
But he had his beak full of problems because it was still inside of the captain's neck. He didn't crack the spine or touch the further plates. He just bent some bones in a way, moving his beak deeper when he had a wide opening into the armor. The armor could take all the power of his Fatality. Some parts didn't, which enabled this current moment of having his beak below the layers of armor.
It was part of the plan. A gamble too. The Undead Captain was too late to stop what was about to happen.
Conjuring the wildest flame Murai could create, the tip of his beak outshined the Blitz. Focused on nothing but the Flame, Murai blasted all breaks away and changed his mana into Flame, letting the cloth drop down as well.
Inside his mana space, the Beast Core flared in a great flaming storm, switching from the neat azure color to unleashing a flurry of waves that acted accordingly to Murai's Conjuring. It was a flood of the remaining mana his core had. He spent everything, pushing his Flame to the tip of his beak, and there was no stopping it.
But there was still a problem. It wouldn't do much on its own when the bones of an Undead Captain were sturdy and partially immune to elemental harm.
He didn't crack any bones with his Fatality. It was just enough to go through the armor, which was what he wanted to do anyway, but that was the first part. Second was what he was doing right now. He needed fuel for his Flame because his mana was too weak to do what he wanted.
Conjuring lasted for a couple of seconds. Far too little than he wanted, but his mana had its limits when Conjuring restricted his Replenishment.
Murai would have to become proficient with some kind of Flame Conjuration Technique, or something that worked with Flame inside his Core to properly touch or shape it better. It wasn't a necessity, fortunately.
Even if he had it, the current circumstance wouldn't help him with anything. Not only did he have too much in mind, his mana had problems. It was already late in his fight, so he opted for the most intense Conjuration method possible alongside the best Shaping he had.
Those were the Flame Shots, following a rune, and many flames flying ahead.
A pair of Shots swirled below the skull, coming into contact with the bones. They became singed immediately but didn't crack. Murai let them go deeper, exploding in flames and the rest of his flames went ahead.
But before that, he changed some truths about the flames, meshing some symbols with his imaginative Shaping to create a simple rune. He attached it to the piece of a cloth he let go into the deepest part of the Captain, followed by his Shots and Flame.
A good alternative to seize victory was simplicity. Flame can devour the dried-up bones from the inside out, or mana could fuel them for enough time. That was the usual method mages used around many techniques, because mana was fuel, or materials were. Catalysts often worked for that purpose, or essences did.
But Murai wasn't rich in such choices. He had to burn this damned undead from the inside out, so any piece of bones was a good start.
And it worked!
Flame Shots cracked a little piece of a single rib apart, which began to sizzle from inside out to propel the flames inside. Then, the heat surged out to the air, and flames began to spread when oxygen went in.
Murai was delighted after seeing and feeling how great it all worked. Whenever the plans went according to a plan, it was a perfect time for a cheer.
Smoke began to emerge from the opened-up neck soon enough, traveling up from the insides of the panicking Undead Captain. The armor won't stop this, so Murai churned a laugh before jumping aside and tumbling as he panted. His mana was out of his reach. He was too tired.
Undead Captain kept panicking and forgot about its target or a duck. Dying by burning was truly a horrible feeling for its bones. Smoke began to rise much faster as it began to roll on the ground, hoping to change something, but the armor became its prison. Anything...for help.
With a pair of Flame Shots and a Flame Rune latched into a cloth and wrapped onto the ribs, flames consumed. It was like poison seeping deeper into the bones, and even heat rapidly spread inside like in a stove.
Its armor couldn't contain what was within, which became a problem as there was no opening beside the neck, fueling the flame with oxygen. It was looking good, as if it went even better because the heat was well kept in, surrounded by a great armor.
However, that was because the fuel was mainly Murai's mana, and the Flame Shots had limited effectiveness because they were spells. They exploded inside, gave the rune more fuel, and added more flame around the bones before dissipating.
Shots wouldn't do much without the cloth that was the essential fuel, allowing the Flames to cycle by consuming the bones and spreading. All under a Flame Rune that had a simple rule set into it, heat rose.
Murai used the rune theory in the simplest motions. So he watched the show from aside, stopping tumbling, and supervised the foe on the ground.
“Not sorry.” He mumbled, feeling great and good in his nods that felt as if he was patting his back. He truly wanted to hear what would Lorry say about this move, but his mana space and core felt like shit. His insides were squeezing him, but surprisingly, he didn't feel much from his mind. He wasn't that tired physically, even though he should be.
For now, the situation stabilized. Undead Captain kept dancing on the ground, cluttering his armor and panicking. Flame ate the bones, so its movements were slowing down. With more exposed bones or marrow, the flame got stronger. It soon became independent from the Rune, which flickered and stopped existing.
From then on, it was disastrous for the Undead Captain, who seemed to give up and became detached from the reality of the situation. It kept lying on the ground, hoping to extinguish the flames. It was impossible. Flames spread to form an independence.
Soon enough the whole body was aflame, spreading even to the skull which flared in its Soul Flames.
“It spreads slowly, as expected. Captains have their core bodies in great shape, probably because of what they are in this temple. Their defenses are sturdy, but not against this sort of tactic, huh? Gonna remember that. There should be more resistance depending on level or might. I wonder about the possibilities, Mindarch.” Murai mumbled out loud, hoping to seek Mindarch's voice that was constantly watching.
But no comment went his way. He bet Mindarch was feeling stupid right now, so the silence was pitiful or great in any regard.
Anyhow, the use of his Flame worked wonders because Murai used it in a great way. If he was wrong in any act, they wouldn't be able to reach enough heat and fuel.
Conjuring it all under his current Grade was still a questionable act, but Murai used enough Flame to last long enough to reach the inner portions of the bones. If that didn't happen... Well, it went within his calculations, even though his mana pool sank to the bottom, but then he looked into it and discovered it wasn't empty. He could've sworn he Conjured the most he could.
Now, less than one-tenth was left, which shocked him. That was enough mana to Shape more Flame Shots. Could it be the power of the Replenishment and this Gate? It gave him so much mana that he wondered about its effectiveness and whether his near-zero mana wasn't hurting him. It didn't. Even with all the bullshit things this temple gave him that enchanted his recovery with hidden poison.
He should be careful next time, but he completely forgot how many seconds and minutes had passed.
“Wait, no other Undead Captain arrived.” He said to himself, looking at the portal. “Oh well.”
He knew his Flame wasn't in threshold of some great quality. It was just elemental affinity at the beginning stage. His Sharpness was better than it because he wasn't stingy with it, and usurpingly, his talent with it was better. It got Boosted a few times already.
His Flame was neglectful because its uses weren't as widespread under his needs. Flame Shot was the lone spell under his Flame.
That was it.
He had no time to think of something else for the time being, even though he could Shape something new out of his Flame Affinity. That was essentially how mages came up with new spells and trained. With affinity already within his core, it should be even easier.
But did he want to start it? Flame Shots weren't potent alone because of mana itself. Flames had fundamentals that poised as Laws.
The flame was hot. Ice was cold. The wind was quick and formless. That was a general truth that all elemental affinities held, making the Laws slowly creeping truths, and creating suitable techniques and spells.
Laws were powers of another class, changing Shaping, or spells under many categories. One can have as many Laws as one can hold. That was the only limit, and there were Laws to pretty much anything. Murai knew it but had no desire to look at any with this current body. He calculated this world took Laws for very limited things because of Boosts and the way the power gathered.
Frankly, he couldn't even think of Laws right now.
Major and powerful Conjuration and Shaping techniques moved along these truths, otherwise, it would be an ordinary flame.
Murai's Flame wasn't stronger than what any ordinary mage had. His handling was. The amount and density of flame can change it, while the Flame Rune worked wonders. Mana touched it, so it became a skill on its own.
Murai let his Flame turn crisp, growing into a higher degree of heat on its own thanks to the new fuel and heat. Without the armor around, it wouldn't work either.
He let go of some doubts, figuring that he should trust his instincts, rather than be worried about every little problem this life had. He hated dealing with problems, so overlooking the sizzling captain felt good.
“Ahahah! Too bad, fucker! Drop dead you piece of churning dry bones!” Murai happily quacked, standing up to his feet and taunting the captain's last attempts that changed nothing. The smoke was turning dense and even little flames started escaping its mouth, or the sides of its neck. The armor made up a nice oven, so the captain was more or less done.
Amid the dozens of bloody corpses, the Undead Captain struggled to no avail. It couldn't do much, and soon enough, even flames started to envelop its skull, leaving its already swirling Soul Flames weak. They lowered like the skull, almost disappearing into the armor.
Captain screeched and cluttered its teeth in terror before it cursed and dropped its limbs to the ground. It lost. Letting go of its exes was the basis act of defeat. At the last moments, its fingers stretched to catch the elven boy that was far away. Until they dropped, leaving the flames consuming.
Murai won this fight, and it wasn't easy for him at all. The plan had good methods. Accomplishing every step wasn't easy, and if it hadn't been for the Fatality or his use of Flames, it wouldn't have fared well.
Well, perhaps he could've forced it with the most intense Peak anyway, but he doubted it would create such a great opening to allow the helmet to fly away. Flames needed oxygen, after all, while he lacked time.
The captain stopped moving not that far from the crawling boy, who looked at the smoking corpse of a corpse.
His eyes were alive, but confused and weird after looking at how a little duck killed an Undead Captain, whose armor looked more like that of a General. He knew at least this much, but after hearing its screech and clutter of armor, he watched and harbored memories of a slave from Hell Haven who saw many undead.
The boy didn't know what to think. How to act? Should he keep crawling? Death won't come at him. How? Why? When did it become this weird and bright? He thought he was lost in eternal depression, but Murai crashed his mind out of that curse.
In fact, he shouldn't dare to even think, because Hell Haven and his slave status were chained to his bones, mind, and soul. His status didn't change, but his mind did. That weird voice woke and changed him.
Feeling confused and weird about this unfamiliarity was the basis of his current mind. While the pain of having his mind cracked in half was still fresh, Murai was no longer talking to him, so it didn't hurt him that much.
His only sight that mattered was the insane picture around the arena. Blood was everywhere and he realized every single fallen foe was in pieces, and many armors and weapons lay around. It was a small army of more than 40 or so killed foes in not even that large arena. Perhaps more, but he had trouble distinguishing pieces from individuals.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
There were severed heads around his arms too, and big chunks of intestines. The metallic stink of blood hit his nose. It was a familiar stinking sensation that was also coming off of him. He thought he had outgrown this feeling long ago in his dreadful stance and mindless helplessness, but the world had changed.
He wasn't finding it good, however. It was terrible, so his eyes focused on the surroundings more than his nose.
The only standing foe was a powerful duck that destroyed all of them. That powerful Undead Captain too? Weird... Insane.
Flashes of painful memories, along with strains of pain over his body, were enough of a wake-up call. They wanted his head. They wanted him dead!
All of those beings were a dreadful existence in his eyes. Yet, throughout this nasty picture, the boy remained on the ground, shaking in excitement, Will, fear, and whatever else that his mind couldn't even handle. It all overlapped into trembling, giving his body and mind a tougher time, but his eyes were still firm. Wet as well.
His fate seemed no different from before, yet it was how it always was: an unbearable experience of being a slave. Not a normal one, but a slave for a human nation was often better than being a slave for some household name in Hell Haven. It depended from slave to slave. He was an elf. That was already well over the normal slaves, be it war slaves, work slaves, or something else.
He survived for now, but the future held way too many pictures and possibilities, and some duck wouldn't change it, even if it briefly shook his lost Will.
This boy, will he survive even the nasty future that was ahead of him? He survived the death sentence that should've killed him. He tried to escape. He tried to kill. He tried many things.
He hoped for the death too. Many times, without any authority or permit. Others should be the ones to give him that gift. The Rulers. Gods. Overlord. Mighty ones that had far too much of an ego.
That was the truth about the slaves in all of the Hell Havens; places where Chaos ruled.
The power of the rules gave those in power superiority over the others. In this sense, the pictures of this duck were weird. Whatever death he wished, be it peaceful or filled with suffering, he hoped to reach the end of the numbness.
He failed to get that, even when it was almost guaranteed. Murai defied that choice, refuting him like the ones who judged his Fate.
But he didn't hate this duck. He knew it was the one that spoke to him, somewhat... How? That was another puzzle to his confusion. Was that duck a different thing? A weird variable that he unwillingly met because of nothing but his past act? It saved his ass. That much was true.
Smiling in satisfaction and the great sight of smoking bones, Murai was surprised to see the portal trembling in cracks and conclusion.
This was indeed the end of this whole Island. Undead Captain was the last boss, which was as funny as frustrating, because Mindarch played with his words on a whim, speaking as if more of them would come out of that portal.
But he was kidding, fortunately.
Murai doubted he would manage the same tactic on another one, but various foes within the same wave had different points of interest. Some had different Paths or equipment, thus different strategies were required to kill them. Mindarch mentioned only a single Path, so perhaps he should've gotten there was just a single foe.
“Well, this piece of bones was still considerably more difficult because those defenses were way overkill. I put my everything into the weakest parts of that armor, managing no cracks, but look at it! I found a way in anyway! Terrible... Terrific!” Murai cried to the sky, spreading his wings, and wished to laugh straight at Mindarch's face.
“I won, Mindarch! But... at what cost huh?” He shuddered and calmed down. Feeling his mana space, it was calm, but both of his cores seemed to churn in some activities. They were restless, similar to his neck that suddenly snapped and pain lingered for more than a couple of seconds. Murai grunted as he glanced up, aware that he got hurt on this Island after all. He almost stumbled backward, falling to his back in pain.
“Was... Was this?! A great Resonance? Nah... Wish they would reach some agreement though. Huh? Agreement? What am I thinking... My cores, my playthings. No Path to take it onward. Patience. It needs patience. ” he mumbled.
Within his body, Beast Core was feeling more than empty, but suddenly, the effects of the highlighted Replenishment rose, flowing into it like a wave too big and qualitative. It stormed him, so it ended up harming his insides. Weak mages would become crippled immediately, but surprisingly, his mana space only shuddered and Beast Core gobbled the power off the Replenishment and effects of this temple for snacks.
Replenishment felt like a bigger, easier, faster, and greater Meditation Mantra or some kind of Cycling Technique.
This place was doing it for him, but it was more like a hidden aftereffect, with obvious hidden poison that could turn one's mana space to shambles along the core.
Handlers had a much better time in this place, thanks to their reliance on the worldly mana. Shapers were more sensitive to the intense Mana Flow of this temple, while all of those gifts that Murai got ensured that it acted like a semi-constructed Cycling Technique that moved to his core without his choice. That was the Replenishment, which Murai felt was kind of tame in comparison to some of his memories, but why care about such automatic gifts?
He accepted it for what it was, and when the time for changes arrived, he would worry about it later. Feeling this aspect of the temple for quite some time, he wasn't finding it problematic
Gate 2 was good, but whenever he was close or behind the overdraft, things got intense in his mana space. His Beast Core always got restless, which caused his Shaping to be worse, or forceful. It was still squeezable, so that was at least some good news for his little life.
And now, with an almost empty mana, he felt the churning limits and flow of this temple's secret. It was turning mana into a peculiar crazy flow as if it was under some time-manipulating aspects or major mana-based formation arts, or sources.
It was pushing into him from outside, turning his already wild mana up a notch. A speck of distraction would prove to be fatal, but he squeezed his core even more to calm it down.
Especially to him, who had a lot to lose in his mana space since he used almost everything without regard.
The amount of mana he gave to put the bones aflame wasn't about flames alone, but expecting little flame to shatter that captain wasn't possible. So he put a lot of his mana out, giving the flame more attention by ensuring their heat and time were enough. He even went a little overboard, but the past waves were equally harsh in his mana or tactics. This one was far too close to his limits...
Murai knew it was no time to be stingy, so turning to be ruthless was part of his tactics. The bones of a captain required that, as they weren't some ordinary dried bones, but the kind that were resilient to elements, brunt attacks, and mana abilities to a certain extent. That measure ended in its level, but only in terms of bones. With the armor in the way, things were different.
Bones were tough like steel by all rights, even if they were dried like Death Valley. Mruai wondered how he managed to crack at least that small part of that rib. Perhaps it was already damaged, or open?
It was too late to question a victory.
Taking a good look around, Murai gave himself a rare calm breath. It was no time to waste upon unimportant problems, so he rather changed his interest upon the boy, whose purpose seemed to be over.
It was right in time. Mindarch spoke aloud, albeit a little grumpily, as if he hid some disappointments, anger, and frustration.
[Island 93 has been completed, dear Citizen M, the epitome of cleverness, Chaos, and one that should think about consequences, acts, and calmness...]
“Piss off.” Murai quacked. “I wouldn't change a speck of my tactics. That is what you get after messing with me!” He laughed, which wasn't warranted because he stopped as the pain returned and he wheezed on the ground.
Mindarch didn't laugh.
[That is fine. Fine. Not like I can change what has already happened. This Island in particular is a rather tough one to crack or even finish since the end isn't the end. Perhaps I should've said that... Oh well. It is filled with challenging times. You've completed it in a Satisfactory Tier, much to my lacking merits, ideas... problems... curses.... Complaints! You damned bloody animal! You fucking killed it!?]
“Which it? Well, who says you should care? I don't, so don't give me this attitude.” Murai whimpered on the ground.
[You slaughtered everyone!]
“Should I've not?” Murai said with very questionable quacks. “Don't be unreasonable. This is no place for reasons. I am not one to take it either, so who the hell are you?! Hm? What? Who? Where?”
Mindarch didn't reply to that.
[Just you wait... This won't end well for either of us.] Mindarch said, almost too wishful to mention the name of his Lady, the one that was soon to be awake.
Murai wanted to argue with Mindarch whom this ended badly for, but he hurried to the boy after noticing that Mindarch ceased his words.
Smacking his head with his wing, leaving a small bruise in the process, he had all the time to scold this excuse of an elf. Pain or not, Murai eyed him with unhinged interest and anger. It made him look mad, overly serious, and laughable to some people.
The boy didn't even process the pain, nor the movement of this duck that smacked him in no time. He was left in a state of shock since he heard the Mindarch's voice in all of his glory.
He was unfathomable, deep, and something that one should revere in this place.
In one moment, Murai arrived upon his face, smacking him from his reverie again, and giving him a nasty surprise with his wings.
Then, a deep voice crashed into his head, hurting him so much, that he hoped for the End itself. It talked directly to his mind, which wasn't surprising because he heard Will of the Battleworld many times himself.
But Mindarch or Murai wasn't that.
Terrifying it might be, this boy, whose experience in the world was less than pleasant and unlike what an elf would meet, met something much more savage than some lacking voice of many tones, or voices of reason or Chaos.
Boy grasped his head, terrified, and tensed up like a bowstring. He trembled again, but not a sound went out of his mouth. After a few moments of notable silence, he looked at the duck's angry expression.
A tear was past the bruised mark that Murai left him, giving him a stinging pain that put some emotion on his face.
“At least you can cry!” Murai pushed his Will onto him again. “For god's sake, if you are willing to die, do it on your own accord, or in a manner befitting an elf! Also, don't be such a wimpy kid! You are making your ancestors so disappointed, that I am inclined to give you another slap! Do you dare to take it? My wing? Hm?!” He gave him quite some tone, leaving no calmness, nor a try to comfort him. He even put his wing up in the air again.
The pain returned, and the boy accepted it with clutched fists and gritting teeth. “D-did.. W-what?” he muttered, sounding how he looked: weak and confused, and without knowing what to make of the situation.
“Well, at least your mind can take my Will, so that is one thing to take onto your spirit. It hurts, huh? Good. You should be glad for that, similar to how it didn't crumble. But I guess it was quite close to that point, stabilizing as I left you alone. Think of it as your good fortune, since it means that your mind and soul can take this little duck... So piss off with this depression and stand up for yourself.”
“Huh?” the elf mumbled, thinking of something else amidst the painful voice and close wing that aimed at his face.
“Can't hear me?!” Murai got irritated again. “It doesn't mean the world will always be in this perpetual state of numbness and depression. It always cycles to someone or everyone, leaving some worse than others. I get that, but it isn't even half that bad unless you give up like a fool. So what if you are a slave? Have you ever seen those above you or lower? They must be slaves for others, or slaves for themselves because they all care for themselves and their Paths. Those are called idiots! Fools! The kind of assholes that moves their heart just to make a dent in their soul. Laughable! That is what they are. Now, laugh!”
The boy didn't laugh.
“Well, you can try it at some point. You can manage it after regaining some form of freedom. How about to start it? The first point is to get your mind free. Get it across some nastiness. That is a good stepping step across a wide mountain. And if you are lucky enough, getting further is up to you. Not me! Everyone needs a poke across such mountains from time to time. It's not like you have no choice but to die. You've chosen the easiest and most disturbing, dogshit, and terrible choice of them all. Get!” Murai bent his neck up and readied his beak. “grip!”
He slammed the top of his head with his beak, forcing the boy's chin to the ground where the world turned upside down in all kinds of bloody pictures, or feathers.
Afterward, even more tears went forth from the corners of his eyes, turning into an eventual waterfall of emotions that flooded his eyes and cheeks. He wept freely for the first time in years, feeling as if a huge mountain lifted his mind.
He wasn't stopping, even throughout more arguments that Murai cursed him with, speaking of how elves shouldn't weep like fools, or men should only cry when met with rightful reason.
But secretly, Murai only muttered excuses. It needed an outlet. Both of them needed this.
So, with that said, Murai let the boy cry the tears he deserved. Just in time when Lorry and Lisa managed to come inside, right when the Space Cage lifted its limits. The entrance to this arena was a simple caged gate, so when they saw the picture of what was behind it, they both had various words in their mouths.
“What the hell happened here?” Lisa asked first, unaware of what Murai did in this place. He spent an hour inside, which gave her a long time to speak alone with Lorry.
Even as his Life Companion, she wasn't aware of what he felt or saw, but that can change after this Cage lifted. She usually didn't speak of it, unless there was a need for it. In this case, it was interesting. The methods of these Islands only allowed a single individual within each of them, unless one went as a Party, or someone was a Blessed. In such a case, a lot of things changed.
Usually, it was either a choice of a single group going through the Islands, or the group would separate to their respective paths. Each would then have their own Islands, loot, rewards, and Islands to conquer. That was how Lisa knew this Gate. Going solo was the most popular.
That was its purpose set by Levandis herself.
“I had some fun,” Murai said to Lisa through their connection.
“Did it consist of making a child cry? What sort of monstrosity are you?” Lisa said out loud, mocking Murai more than anything else.
“That is some hilarious thing to hear from you. Coming from a former succubus? That is a more hilarious joke than laughing at my own legs. Have you heard how 3 ducks went to a bar?”
“No. But I've heard plenty of other poor jokes.” Lisa chuckled. “Wanna hear them?”
Murai was in no mood to go this way with her, so he didn't refute her like usual.
But she did. “Whatever, Murai Hisagi. What sort of Island was this? Mindarch was rather... terrible at voicing it properly. I count at least 44 corpses, but... some of them were already dead, huh? That reminds me of a joke....”
“Shut up!” Murai barked.
“Oh, a joke?!” Lorry moved forward, noticing that quite a lot of numbers died in this arena because of Murai alone. It seemed way more savage than he thought.
“You shut up too” Murai didn't forget about him.
While Lisa took a proper look around, knowing that the Ending Isles held quite a change from the Islands behind them. They were usually set into proper notions, but they varied a lot because of each Challenger. Especially this kind speaking to her soul.
And this Isle was something she only heard about. A place amongst the Ending Isles, the kind that held various methods, but incredibly harsh difficulties that weren't supposed to be finished. Giving up meant no end. The rewards were based on the choice when Challenger gave up, or how well they did after giving up.
Of course, Mindarch hadn't mentioned that, nor Lisa did, because she didn't know the rules of this Isle. Murai didn't know that either, because Mindarch sidelined this information, even though he shouldn't.
The content of this Island was not entirely hidden because Mindarch talked about it a little before Murai arrived here. Lisa thought that he would get some ideas inside, which was one of the reasons she was silent.
So when Mindarch spoke rather vaguely about it, Lise regarded it as unimportant. Shrouded mysteries were something she was very familiar with, while Lorry remained weirdly silent about this too, even though she kept pestering him about it.
She had no doubts Lorry knew everything about every Island, while she didn't.
And as far as everything went, Mindarch was playing with Murai like a toy.
But it backfired badly, even though Mindarch was an expert at playing with fire. And it burned.
Something else did as well, but physically speaking. Smoke coming from a great-looking armor was incredible to see because of Murai's level, and whatever undead it used to be, it seemed to be at least an Undead General in Lisa's eyes.
Because of that, she had some doubts because such an undead was a Lawful Undead, capable of handling some measly duck like a toy.
So Murai talked like usual: briefly. “I had to protect that crybaby.” he pointed to the crying boy with his wing. “Waves of enemies went from portal one by one, so I killed them without rest. Oh, and they wanted his head. Not mine, so I took it personally. Guess how? By taking their heads, of course. Sounds fair, right?” Murai quickly explained what he thought, leaving the specifics behind, but she saw her lingering eyes on the smoking armor. “Oh, that one is an Undead Captain. A fortress that I cracked just a tiny little bit because the bones were a tough nut to crack like its armor.”
Lisa doubted they were different, but the armor was looking too good for him to crack it even a little bit.
“Must have taken advantage of some loose screw, I suppose.” She reckoned without knowing she was essentially right.
Murai attacked the most probable place where the helmet would get loose. It succeeded, as there were fewer problems and he he managed to crack it enough to let his Fatality carry the results.
Looking at the charred, still smoking piece of the armor, Lisa more or less guessed what sort of situation occurred there. The end that he was supposed to take with a loss. The skull disappearing insane aflame was enough for an answer.
He killed it from the inside out, leaving her breathless because it shouldn't have been possible. Even when she wasn't the being that even breathed, she doubted herself.
At this point, Lorry forced himself to become the center of attention.
“Very well... What is done is done, does Mindarch agree?”
[Shut up... I am contemplating this mess...] Mindarch barked, leaving Lorry speechless.
“Oh well, Murai is good. Good! Lorry is impressed.” He shouted as he changed to a cheerful skull, floating past Lisa to go before Murai's face. He ignored the crying child.
“Yeah? It was good, as Mindarch said. Calling it a challenge was less than appealing though. It was a nightmare... This dogshit protecting was more of a bother than killing those waves of fools. Such a method of challenge was annoying. A bad taste. Bad! Terrible!”
“How would Murai change it then? Lorry is listening.” Lorry smiled, clutching his teeth tightly.
“You wish!? I am not cheap, you see?”
“Forget it then.” Lorry sighed.
“Though so. Who even came up with this thing? Who would find this appealing enough to let such things into public... This feels terrible. Some kind of demon who had a loose head came up with that, didn't it?”
Lorry churned some hesitant noise, but Murai continued.
“Who would choose to protect a slave that was already half into the End? Hm?” Murai argued, letting his beak up into the air to speak up.
Mindarch wasn't interested.
“My Lady...” Lorry mumbled.
“That explains a lot...”
“Well, Lorry shall take such input for future references. A lot of things are still balanced to a rather... subjective manner of the Hell Haven and various personal trials. So, with that said, what Murai wants to do now? Another essence gathering? There are a lot of them this time around! Fusing with it is better to be done in stages, otherwise, Murai will lose some of them. Murai has no Gem or special pouch. Take Lorry's suggestions to heart, however. Lorry knows how Murai views those essences.” Lorry spoke with knowledge about Murai and his essence desires.
Glancing at all of those essences littered around dozens of meters wide platform, Murai held nothing much in his mind other than some rest. And the rest was like... 90% essences.
“Sure. Take your time turning them in. But not that thing. I want that myself.” Murai pointed his beak at the smoking piece of armor that looked great even with smoke and internal flames.
The heat didn't damage it in the slightest, leaving Murai expectant as it was his loot! A loot that he wasn't supposed to get at all, which Lorry can't change, and Mindarch can't stop. Lisa realized it, laughed internally, and understood where this was going next. Murai caused another trouble, problem, or disaster.
“Oh... that? A part from the last boss. Well, Lorry has no choice, Lorry presume?” Lorry said as if he wanted Mindarch's help or acknowledgment, but nothing came from the ceiling.
So he turned to his authority and control as a Guide, obliterating the bodies of each killed tool on the ground first. He left shimmering orbs of essence behind.
Soon enough, there were quite a lot of them around, and each was above Grade 8! The lowest and most common were Low-Grade 7s, but quite a few were in the Middle-Grade too. Fewer were High-Grade, but that was to be expected. Murai bet the Captain was Hight-Grade 7, or straight-up Low-Grade 6, but he knew nothing much was left of the bones, so he forgot about its essence.
Murai moved from one essence to another, absorbing them towards his Artificial Core that ate everything like a glutton.
Murai was patient with it. He was much slower in his absorption because of his unkempt mana space and mana that was getting back on track. Calming, was a process that usually took hours, but he took 10 minutes only.
Taking the essences into his Artificial Core eased the stress around his mana space surprisingly well. It was just a temporary feeling of taking them in, but with enough essences coming under his Core Defying Fusion Technique, things got smoother in no time.
There were no issues with his Artifical Core. Only his Beast Core was a little unkempt. And those dozens of Essences weren't a great addition to its quality and power. They went to the other swirling core, leaving it churning and turning in sadness.
In the past few days, Murai realized a harsh truth that he hadn't expected to arrive so soon. It became clear to him when a variety of essences went through this high-class technique.
There seemed to be a variable in the fusion equation and his current species possessed unexpected potential. Core Defying Fusion Technique had countless years of research under its legacy and his memory. Murai hadn't created it, but used it and learned all about it because he could.
So he knew its intricate nature and research, and thanks to his numerous personal lives and experiences, he was the only being in existence who felt this technique in dozens of methods and patterns.
Using his current method worked well, as it was fairly universal, but an Anatidae was still special in mana and mind. It was giving him some new additional worries that proved to be quite a large bother because mana was complicated, similar to this core fusion technique.
Required Mana Essences to turn Artifical Core to a passable level were at least 10 times the usual amount. It wasn't because of the essence, his experiences, uses, or this world. It was his body. The fusion will be astronomical in terms of values, even if he was working with Initialization Core and few Low-Grade 6 Essences in total. For now, of course. He wanted at least Grade 5 for the fusion, but that may change, because of his discoveries.
His body required far too much power.
Anatidae simply held too much mana, and his mana space was the core problem of this fusion. The flow of everything was quite strong, so each passing essence left him with more calculations and an increased threshold. There shouldn't be this sort of increase in terms of Initialization Mana Core, but it was the truth.
After all, exploding the Artifical Core had to encompass and influence the whole mana space, Beast Core included. So each passing upgrade and familiarity increased the potential of the fusion.
So yes. It wasn't a terrible thing by itself. It just provided an unexpected difficulty and expenses in terms of essences.
There was an easy solution to this problem: Get more essences through this technique and outrun this problem.
That sounded like an easy solution, but at a higher ceiling, this could mean something entirely different. Imaging this problem with Law Core would be.... interesting. For now, he had no choice but to follow this interesting beginning along.
There were no worries for this fusion because he didn't plan to go any further than Revolving Core anyway. That was enough of a jump anyway, and it didn’t even change his desire for more essences. It remained stagnant because he was already hungry for them like a dog for fresh meat and bones.
And this Island gave him dozens of them! That was equal to thousands of points! Thousands! Or tens of thousands? Murai rather didn't think of points at this point.