Bitting the stone was much better than shoving his beak between the rocks. Murai didn't consider the teeth before, but now, he began the ascent a few dozen centimeters at a time without catapulting himself over larger distances.
It wasn't the hardest thing he had ever done, but he felt how every movement strained his body and bones. This whole process of climbing up hurt his body a lot, yet Murai kept going because he didn't want to die. Giving up would be an insult to his many lives and any motion of memory of that beating that Razmund caused, jolted his mind with more strength.
Meter by meter, the time wasn't the easiest for him and soon enough, he was 10 meters above the bottom of the well. He had still more than 15 meters or so left to reach the surface, which indicated a terrible thing. As Murai reached the higher stages, his vision got better, allowing him to see the end of this well.
Who in the seven hells makes wells this large? It's bloody useless! There is no need for a such big thing if there is running water on the surface! Murai scowled at the designer and maker of this torture device but still kept going.
His plan?
Use the Bloodrush halfway through to get past the limits of his body, and charge right past the dark surface of the water. His patience was running low, so he decided on being harsh to himself. Whether it was a good idea was questionable. He couldn't see what was beyond the water, as the surface turned shiny because of the moonlight.
Murai kept his inner clock running, but he couldn't tell whether his lungs were beyond the halfway limits, or above it.
One way or another, it was about... half left? There was also a fear to lose all of the progress if he didn't bite the stone well enough or if Bloodrush will cause some issues with the Water-Breathing. All in all, Murai was nervous to fall down since it would mean his death. So he spent quite some effort to make his swings perfect every time. This caused him to waste a lot of time, but if he restarted his journey, he would die because of time and nothing else.
It was a stressful journey up.
From time to time, Murai still used his beak to fly at least dozens of centimeters at a time. Doing so every so often was all he could manage, but he got to his halfway goal in about 10 minutes, since the start of the ascend. Clutching the stone roughly halfway through this well, Murai began to flare his intent and stubbornness up.
It was time for the Bloodrush!
Murai clutched the stone more than ever before, but not enough to crack it or destroy it. The first thing that happened when using the Bloodrush was the message of the Will of the Battleworld.
[Bloodrush is at the 1st level, but yours is level 9 - Vitality is 44 - You will lose 10 points permanently after the Bloodrush ends. Do you want to deal with the consequences afterward? The extended injuries won't fare well for your cause after the Bloodrush ends]
[Do you want to proceed?]
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Murai heard the message and willed his intent to agree. Not even stating any words, he couldn't really speak as he felt his message going across the Will of the Battleworld. His soul space wasn't yet to be truly stable, so he didn't even consider moving his consciousness to speak up. He should only hope, that his Robust Spirit will stand firm even within the instabilities that were lowered.
Still, Murai was nervous over the death of his possible mistake. His soul was the most precious thing to him after all and losing his footing in this way would hurt him in the long run.
Will of the Battleworld didn't hear him, nor it needed to listen too much. Murai's intent was more than clear, so it didn't take long for him to feel something glowing on the walls. Something penetrated the wall as if it was indistinguishable shadows and strange waves of chaotic lines or laws.
It was a strange occurrence, but Murai understood what was going on. It was some form of blood power, but no mana was within it. It was also not a source of the Will of the Battleworld which was providing all sorts of wonders and effects for the citizen of the Battleworld. Or maybe it was? Murai was feeling as if he was showered with something hot, bloody, and crazy, and he couldn't understand what was it.
This is... Bloodrush? Murai thought upon being hit with the chaotic feelings and intent of something demonic. It was unlike what he expected. It held both, intent, as well as the mental power of some chaos and the incredible mental power of Will and physicality. A surge of this power made his blood boil and his body winced and jolted in fright. It didn't change his perception or his emotions, but something was still forced upon him. No... He wasn't necessarily against it, since this was a source of power he needed and he accepted it.
Murai knew his soul was more than sturdy enough to not get affected by the surge of this demonic intent. But his body may not be, as it was precisely the body that will undergo the Bloodrush while his Robust Spirit ceased some negativity of this strange power away.
[Bloodrush is activated]
[10 Vitality is the price for one of the Gifts of Blood. The duration is 1 to 5 minutes depending on your use]
[The core structure of the Bloodrush - Increased strength, ferociousness, speed, and most physically based power. Your improved blood flow will stimulate your body and gain regenerative power corresponding to days if not weeks of Vitality effects in a single moment. Temporarily, you will regain some power, but the case of your future will be still in your hands]
[Stimulated Anatidae blood calls the power of the past, yet your soul is unmoving, sturdy gaining an undeniable truth and clarity that is unwavering against the Chaos of XXXXXXX Entity]
[Will rules over the blood, and so your case is special]
[Certain diminishing weaknesses of the Bloodrush are lowered or completely wiped out, allowing you to gain access to a higher threshold of power with smaller repercussions apart from the loss of Vitality]
[Bloodrush affinity is higher for you than normal]
[Recalculating the threshold of the Bloodrush in accordance with Rule 10]
[+5 Levels into the Bloodrush. Further power is strengthened by the allowance of the Will and Anatidae lineage in accordance with the potency of your uniqueness]
Murai heard it all amidst the clear sounds of his incredibly fast beating heart, which was like countless wooden sticks beating a tree. It was becoming faster and faster, and hopefully, the stick won't break apart against the tree, or the tree will be sturdy enough and the stick will break instead.
Murai waited and waited for his body to calm down. All of this surge of power wasn't that long, but it put forth a strange flow into his core.
First, it was pleasant, and then it wasn't. Bloodrush caused his Beast Core to explode in strength, causing his organs, muscles, and even bones to return to their places in vastly different sight of his mana. Beast Core wasn't just the mana, after all. It was a source of many things. Be it the blood, origin, and everything else. Apart from the brain, it was the most important thing a demonic beast possessed. Sometimes, it was even more important than the brain itself. This process of the Bloodrush was a forceful one, leading to a massive amount of pain and power.
Alas, mostly because of the intent, or whatever it was that washed over his mind and body, Murai was indifferent to the pain as he observed the changes with calmness. He didn't know what it was, that turned his body into a monster bathed in demonic energy, but it wasn't some sort of gift. It was rougher and crazier than he would expect from the source of the world, or something else. It wasn't the mana, but it had some bloodline element, leading to a surge of weird feelings of demonic origin.
That was at least what he noticed about it when he was overseeing his own body that kept clutching the stone. It wasn't originating from something normal for sure, and no world or gods should be involved. As his mind was calmly looking, and thinking, the surge of power already made sure he didn't have time to ponder too much into it.
Blood in his veins sped up, and muscles tensed up, causing all torn flesh to rejoice, and even the destroyed bones were jolted up by temporary power over the flesh. It reminded him of some bloodline powers that he held in the past, so Murai was thinking, what in the world was Anatidae anyway?
Particularly, the tiny legs that were twisted and broken turned back to normal. Both of the legs straightened up, while the small muscles, hidden under the small feathers, temporarily made them straight once again while the bones remained detached from the rest of the body, apart from the skin, feathers, and muscles. Not only that, he was able to feel and move them with muscles alone.
Throughout these effects of the Bloodrush, Murai felt his body getting hot and his mind faltered in the unfamiliarity of this form. Nerves and everything that went throughout his body were connected to physical feelings and the blood was the wildest, spreading to every corner along with this demonic energy that pushed against him like a charm or a spell. Murai figured any ordinary animal, or even Blessed with an average soul would be lost in this ferociousness and bloody feeling that his body was going through.
Trying to move his body caused bone movement and muscles to jolt up, giving him a lot of pain. This was about right. He was glad in being so powerful in the Will and soul, and perhaps the power over the Robust Spirit made the most difference. But this discomfort and power were temporary, and this pain and madness would drive someone to the limits of their mind and Chaos if it would be too long-lasting enough. It will cease to exist soon, and Murai was more than aware of that fact, which he felt with a rising heartbeat, yet with utter calmness in his mind.
Normally, this sort of Bloodrush would cause instability in the mind, while the body would undergo a berserk fluctuation of every inch of the body, causing a complete mess in the mind while the body would become a monster. Everything would become destroyed, or damaged. Murai's case was a bit different, as his body was already destroyed before the Bloodrush and his mind took this surge of power well enough, which may be not what the ones who granted him this power expected.
In normal circumstances, a Bloodrush would be used in a more offensive and chaotic manner. The being would use it to obliterate the enemy at the cost of some Vitality. They can regain such Attributes over time, so it was a powerful ability that was worth the signature of Grade SS which stated powers of ancients, or Extremes. Such an ability may even overrule some rules of the Battleworld, or it does or did in the past.
In a poor sense, it was similar to the Berserk Aura of Octopshark, but it was much more powerful with effects and power that no Bersker Aura would accomplish. Their soft flesh would become mush, and their mind wouldn't take it all that well.
After all, this Bloodrush ability almost grants a complete Second Life, which was precisely Murai's case. Even a being on the verge of dying would be capable of fighting on top of their power. That was, of course, if they weren't injured too much afterward, or if they would be missing some limbs. That would be too much of an inability to make any Bloodrush useful. Thankfully, it wasn't like that for Murai.
He felt the muscles move throughout his limbs, but it wasn't enough for his wings. They were still numb, even though this surge of power was encompassing them alike. In fact, the bleeding of his left-wing returned, after the increased blood flow, so Murai figured it was indeed too injured for Bloodrush to heal it in a couple of seconds. It did to his legs, so did it make sense? No. Perhaps the Bloodrush or this surge of power had some intent and it carried reason to heal by itself.
All of this surge of regeneration happened in a couple of seconds. Murai waited just 5 seconds from the full activation of the Bloodrush before the state stabilized and his body was bathed in the water, but with many lines and wavy matter of crimson darkness. It was shrouding his body, involving his feathers and giving his eyes a dark look. Now, none would recognize him as a duck but a demon instead.
Time was ticking, so Murai pushed his legs against the stones, while his beak remained to clutch the stone. Like an athlete of utmost experience and power, he pushed his beak and legs alike. He shot vertically up, like a professional runner. His leg's claws helped, while the power over his beak was more than enough to leap a meter away in a couple of seconds.
Meter by meter, he pushed himself up with his legs and beak alike. He still had to be careful to not fall down, which could've been a disaster if his mind wouldn't work against this madness. His mind had to think twice or thrice before his hot-blooded body would act. It wasn't as fast as he thought, but it was enough to move a couple of meters in moments. Now, it wasn't run against breath, but against the effect of the Bloodrush. It stated a range of minutes, so hopefully, it will be enough for him, since he didn't know how long it would pass. There was no timer. It just stated 1 to 5 minutes, which was a vast range of time.
Murai began to feel the tension within his chest, coming off of his lungs and feelings of the Bloodrush in his veins and muscles. It was eating him up from the inside out, giving him power but it was straining his injured body quite a lot and organs took it the hardest
Fuck. This Bloodrush acted against my lungs! This thing is a double-edged sword... I swear... I won't ever use this ability if I don't have to. So what if I would be able to use it without injuries? Wouldn't it be like going Berserk? Fuck off with that... This thing is dangerous and mindfully crazy. What sort of thing would possess this sort of thing? He wondered, upon stopping for a couple of seconds to regain his stability over his body.
He still had around 6 meters left before the end of the water, but it was already past the 2nd minute in the Bloodrush state. This state was lowering his breathing time by the overflow of blood in his countless veins. It required a lot of oxygen, which made the Water-Breathing quite strained like a strong engine with not enough fuel. He had to rest every so often so he wouldn't fall down, or his lungs would explode. Now, it was coming to bite him to the ass, since the Water-Breathing had its limitation with a conjunction of the Bloodrush.
Murai did think of this potential problem, and right he was. The problem happened and it wasn't good.
Hell... Is this limit of my body, or of this shitty ability that Battleworld gave me? I swear I can go longer than this, but maybe I expected too much from this... Too much from myself? Would... a restart help me? I wonder... Murai thought, gritting his teeth at the stone which cracked under his clutch.
Without noticing it, his anger over the body turned his mind against him as well. He clutched his beak too much and turned it into many pieces. Thankfully, his legs were clutching to the crevice down below, so he was only out of this wall's reach with his beak. He flickered his neck, securing his beak to another opening between two stones.
That was close... Fuck. This Bloody ability is getting on my nerves. Literary... Shit. Let's keep going, and no madness or this Bloodrush will stop me from my choices. I will survive this. I swear. No matter what.
Murai jumped up as fast as he could after regaining his stability. His bloody body was now as crimson as a ripe apple. His many feathers still looked pristine, but they were all batched in blood and demonic fluctuation. One would think of the current Murai as a demon, albeit, a small one. He was a duck, after all, but the feeling of the demons was the epitome of chaos and death. Even a mortal villager would feel fear from his current form.
Getting closer to the end of the tunnel, the shiny surface was becoming clear to his bloodshot eyes. He was... surprised? What was up with that end of the well? It was... curved inwards, making him unable to crawl completely up, nor swim all the way to the surface since there was a gap from the water's surface to the end of it. Jump would also be hard, and the Bloodrush also turned his feeling over the mana useless.
Everything was becoming hectic in his mind. This whole situation was a mess.
The end of the well wasn't something Murai noticed upon swimming up to this place a while ago. Back then, he was panicky, and also... the well was fuller of water. The well lost quite a few meters of water since the fight above, and the wooden pipes that led the water to this place were destroyed. Hence the situation. Now, this was a big problem, that he noticed right away. From a closer distance, after he reached the surface, one would think of this situation as helpless.
Not only did he notice it, but he also saw it all too clearly.
He was fucked.
“Are... Are you kidding me? This... This fucking luck!” Murai cursed his fate, quacking in a strange noise after observing his choices. His Bloodrush had some little time left, even though he breached the surface. His body regained the feeling of the proper oxygen, but it didn't change a thing if he can't get out of there.
Water-breathing deactivated by itself, causing Murai to cough up a lot of water from his lungs. Bloodrush seemed to regain some power from the proper source of oxygen, and Murai let his neck out of the water, gazing at the end of this well. Now, he had no choice but to quickly reach some conclusion. If he jumped towards one of the edges around less than a meter wide opening, maybe he will clutch the edge with his beak.
That's what he thought immediately, and that was about the only fast choice he thought of. In all this time, thanks to the chaotic nature of the Bloodrush that was more of a demonic ability than anything else, Murai wasn't able to use the mana. Not even the Diving Sphere was something he could conjure at the moment. It needed oxygen, which he had, but it wasn't something Murai was able to start in his current condition.
Murai was at the corner of his life. Literary and figuratively speaking.
He was about 2 meters below the surface of the starry sky. A distance that was quite large for his current physicality of a duck. As he saw it, the diameter of the well itself was over 1 meter and 50 centimeters wide, while the end was curved like a dome, with an opening at the very furthest middle. There was an opening for a bucket, which was about 40 centimeters wide. The opening was out of his crawling capabilities since it was curved and made of different rocks without any gaps.
Jumping up was the only choice since the stones were too smooth, and weren't submerged in the water either. Murai wouldn't be able to crawl further above, even though his body was in the power of the Bloodrush. There was also no rope for the bucket here, indicating that everything was on the surface, or it was temporarily away since he emerged from the well. One way or another, villagers temporarily withdrew their interest in the well, in the fear of demons that almost killed them all.
Murai watched the opening with focused eyes. There was definitely something wrong with him since the power that was under his control was very limiting and strange.
This... Yes. Of course, the Battlewoled wouldn't tell everything. It had no need to do that. It only needs to tell what gods need to tell. I doubt it has some science and common sense solutions over them. That, and the problems along with it aren't something a lofty powerful gods would think to see. There should be some problem with my former injuries... That's the only reason I am unable to form any Mana, and my body isn't working properly over my senses. It is.. as if my body is no longer mine to control?
Wait... This call and madness? Is it caused by the mother of this body? Anatidae is calling this Bloodrush, or is it the history of the blood itself? Ancestors of this species may work against, or along the Battleworld. That may be it. and it is the reason for this madness that I got? Though, it helped me...
Murai fell into a storm of thoughts. The water surface ended 2 meters below the opening, leaving Murai no choice but to force things up a little. He had no time to think too much about the strangeness of this ability. There was no chance to even try and breathe within this space above the water. His Bloodrush would cause him to drown again, most likely ending his life for good this time.
Murai clutched his teeth at the barely wet stone. He ended up cracking it, but not much. His eyes, mind, and everything were kind of out of his usual calmness. He was turning towards the helplessness that he hated with all of his heart.
Choice.. death or life? This... I will make sure to bite someone other than these rocks! I swear on this life of mine. I swear on this duck!
Murai shouted within his mind and leaped out of the wall, using his legs to run on it as he traveled far but was it enough to reach the corner of that opening? He used every ounce of his body power. That included his tiny legs, which almost curved beyond the temporary regeneration as he jumped after losing his running momentum. He even flipped his wings, but they didn't help at all. At this time, his right-wing was somewhat firm once again, but his left one wasn't. They were still useless, like many times before.
His beak was like the tip of an arrow, ready to strike the edge of the well as he flew, biting it with all of his power. He was close to it and at last, he reached it, clutching the edge made of dried stone.