Day 3
Mana Spirit POV
I'm still hogtied... erm... tied to a hog.
Mr Bristles is doing a submarine act, using his snout as a snorkel as he swims through the impressively pretty pond near the end of this strange valley.
From a pig's eyes this whole valley seems to be a smorgasbord of tasty vegetables. From my perspective as a former human, it looks like a manicured garden with every plant placed evenly and each pristine in appearance. Not a sign of insect damage or disease on these leaves. A few plants seem to be glowing, but that's probably just a trick of perspective.
The really strange thing about this valley is only seen in my world of mana. The white world I'm used to is a mix of rich, raw clay color tones. I swept a finger very lightly through it, but it didn't hurt. In fact, it feels sort of nice.
Also rather interestingly, the color tone has a source constantly pulsing with deep and rich power from deep beneath us.
I wonder what that could be?
Mr Bristles seems to be reasonably well hidden trotting water. The reason being there are a lot of strange plants growing on the water too, like lily-pads the width of a full grown man and strange crystal flowers.
Mental note: quit using the pig feet puns. They stink. No, not yours Mr Bristles, just how I'm using them... I know I'm not using your feet... hahhh (I rub my featureless front: my 'face' in frustration). Too literal for the piglet to understand.
Oh yes, we have a bit of a two-way conversation method available because of his sensitivity to my presence, I suppose it's like scent messages used by ants only with ambient mana impressed with my dialogue. Being a boar means my dialogue in words isn't quite understandable to Mr Bristles. He does get the gist, mostly through emotions relayed behind the words. On my end I sense his intents through the 'ripple' like always.
So when he was frantically searching for a place to hide I suggested the water.
Still I was not expecting the giant, talking snap-dragon to appear (disclaimer: Viper-vine). I had though that this guy was just a tree or something from his ripple. Or that he'd... maybe it was a she?... anyway I was surprised it was taken down so easily. I never thought those ghost arrow things were that dangerous. I guess it's just a natural advantage of mine? Maybe it was because I never touched them directly. Lets be cautious from now on, just to be safe.
As for the sex of the flower, I doubt I'll ever know... it's already inside that vacuum cleaner of a ring demon guy uses on everything. Definitely can't let those arrows hit Mr Bristles. Otherwise he'll end up in there too.
“Puhee...!” [Boar with enthusiasm]
Yeah, that's right buddy. You're special.
(Soft grunting as he paddles).
Narrator POV
“Now, where did the little monster run to?” [Mon De]
He glanced around at the surroundings but it was open and the vegetation although thick was not tall enough to obscure his view. It probably had left the valley already.
Frowning he withdrew a small board from his interspatial ring, covered in vile symbols that all but reeked of bloodshed and curses. Then without hesitation he bit his forefinger until it bled. Allowing a single drop of blood onto the board seemed to bring it alive.
“Where is mine enemy, O spirits of malice?” Mon De asked the treasure.
The drop of blood pooled in the appropriate direction, snaking toward the waterway.
“Oh ho... the little pig wishes to play games? Let me, your father teach you how foolish that is.” [Mon De smirking]
Walking in a meandering fashion Mon De spent his time collecting herbs with his ring, ripping them wholesale from the ground in clumps of several dozen at a time. Gently he angled down toward the deep water.
As he paused to look at the wondrous lotus fruit and elegant lilies clustered on the surface like precious emeralds it hurt a little as he acted secretly. As he hurled a deadly poison pill into the lake.
(Take your time and dance in fear and pain as you die, you little shit...) [Mon De muttered]
However the boar seemed to know before it could reach his location, emerging covered in roots and flowers drenched in muck almost directly after the pill hit the water.
“What?! Every time! Every time you make me a fool!” [Mon De grinding his fangs] “Well here it ends, you hateful little worm! I will cleave out your soul and delight as it squirms and is torn apart by my techniques!”
The boar froze up at the blood-thirst leaking from the rabidly crazed cultivator.
In the man's hands a hooked knife with overpowering negative karma emerged from storage. Such malevolence was instilled in the simple looking knife it was stifling. This was by no means an ordinary object. For a weapon to obtain an aura of profound murder like this was rare. In truth it was the materials rather than the actual kills the blade had inflicted, since it was not something Mon De could use freely. A weapon with this scale of depravity would not be possible to hide outside of a interspatial ring. Any person with a shred of decency below god level would be eaten by the will of the blade, but naturally it had no real effect on Mon De. He was already equally as depraved in his arrogance and cruelty. All the aura did was feed on his anger and make the cultivator's power burst out explosively as he raged.
“Raaaaaarrrr!!!” [Inarticulate snarl]
Mon De lunged forward at the dazed boar, but as he did he was struck by some invisible force. It was not a heavy enough blow to do more than twist his head slightly at the impact.
The mad man recalled the first time he felt that punch, as his Grandfather was destroyed like a common peasant. Screaming his fury he charged straight at the monster boar. Vengeance!
Mana Spirit POV
Sensed from his ripples he knew where we were, even so I didn't expect poison...
Yikes, it killed the plants almost instantly. How concentrated was that chemical weapon in pill form?
Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
…
Urf...
I taste bile and I don't even know if I have a stomach. Seriously, that knife... what sick shit was that used for? It's even leeching into my mana world, leaving a clotting bloody trail as it moves! Just looking at the thing hurts. Like fingernails on chalkboard with the volume turned to eleven. Residual pain from whatever created it?
I tried to slow him down with a sharp punch, but he shrugged it off like it was nothing.
Not good.
Mr Bristle has frozen up.
I have to physically shove his body away to keep him from being cut down in the first move. I have to pull him along, leading him away from the fast slashes that rain down in relentless fashion.
C'mon, don't die here, you're a good guy!
Straining I push him, hurling him a fair distance away as the knife comes for his neck.
The demon guy looks at the movement strangely... oh, you've realized it isn't Mr Bristles after all this time? I suppose a surprised pig suddenly flying was too much?
“Grrr... bastard spirit or whatever you are, I see your work, I have felt your blows: they are like rain and wind to me.” [Mon De] “I see what you have done, leading me around like a fool! I will kill them all. The mother and son, the beast. Then I will find your weakness and rip your pitiful strength from you!”
I take a clump of deep, rich brown mana from a strong vein and shape it into a club.
He's still looking around for me.
As if I can be seen by normal means.
Idiot.
I wind up and slam the club with both arms into his ugly face.
Hahahahahahahaha!!
He actually spun in mid air!
Shame all it did was daze him, but that was a beautiful sight. Oh, broke his nose...
Calm down me, no time to celebrate. He's not down yet, just stunned.
I raise the club overhead and aim for his brow. Yes, go to sleep little murderer.
Only this time instead of it smashing him it doesn't even make him flinch.
“Oh, using elemental qi from the valley? That's quite a trick you have there. Too bad you didn't use it seriously enough. That first hit should have killed me. You're soft, spirit.” [His evil eyes glint as he smirks] “You'll die because of it. All I have to do is protect myself from earth and heaven qi using metal and devil qi resistance techniques and I should be fine. There is nothing out here for you to use besides these two.”
What?
I hit him repeatedly, mixing in a few punches... they do nothing.
No! He's directly immune?!
He laughs gleefully as he strides toward Mr Bristles.
No!
“Now to butcher the sow.” [Mon De]
Still under the effect of the knife, the boar is hesitating. Fight or flee.
The monster hardens his resolve. He senses my distress, shit he's trying to save me.
He decides: Fight!
He kicks the ground and moves to attack. Not some half-assed little tricks and discouragements like he used in the past. Head on, direct attack. A charge.
It isn't without merit, if it was a fight using purely physical means it would be fairly even. Underestimate a boar's tusks and tenacity and you will suffer for it. Even moreso because this boar had javelin length quills covering his body and multiple refinements on his tusks from his cultivation method.
But the other side was a monster too, on a level that Mr Bristles couldn't equal.
With the lethal grace of deadly predator the cultivator accepted the challenge, at full tilt they passed each other.
Blood sprayed as they exchanged strikes, but where the man turned monster only took gashes from spines Mr Bristles took a deep slash to the neck and shoulder that seemed to endlessly spray. His ton of bulk crashed to the ground and struggled to stand.
No.
Mon De turned and smiled at where he suspected I stood. He strode toward the dying boar, licking the blood from his knife with a small grin.
No!
I wanted to beg, to plead for my only friend's life. I could see how empty it would be. How useless. This feeling of helplessness, of outrage sparked something deep within me... and harmonized with the pulsing ground below.
I had no idea what it was, only an urge to use it to smash that evil face!
What we learned:
Mon De knows his true enemy now!
What's this? Mana Spirit is evolving!... dun, dun... dun! (Pok*mon music plays)
Poor Mr Bristles... he ate the wrong thing. A blade.
Round 2: Mana Blob Vs Demon
FIGHT!
Treasure Mountain Monthly (summary of artifact/item true usages and origin):
'The Murderous Blade' aka 'Hooked Blade'
True name: 'Seven Devils Soulrending Sickle'
Origin: A certain lord in a faraway place for amusement enjoyed making people suffer if they wronged him. His favorite method was to make them kill their own family with a single needle. This knife is forged from the numerous murder weapons and the noble's thighbone as a grip. This huge evil stain has drenched into the weapon so deeply it can drive sane people without divine will to acts of massacre. Of course if the owner already has these urges it feeds on them and increases the owner's qi generation in response. Made by a demented necromancer this hideous item has yet to be unleashed on the wider world, mostly because it is like a beacon that would drag any do-gooder cultivator within sensing range onto them.
Powers:
Bloodthirst Aura
Empowers the owner if a maniac killer. Drives others violently insane. Intimidates those below god level, suppressing cultivation level and attacking their ability to properly reason.
Deep Bite:
Has a need to taste blood and kill, to the point where the blade even bends to better cut the enemy.
Unknown Secret Power
??????????????????