Chapter 41: Rise and Fall
The Great Shadow Coyote was amused. Somehow Zane had managed to avoid being taken over, but his resistance wouldn't last for long. Once Coyote got his claws into a new body, their fate was inevitable.
Zane was a particularly fine host. His core’s capacity for containing Essence was unheard of from someone who hadn’t reached the fourth tier yet. Most vessels Coyote found himself occupying were barely capable of containing his great and powerful spirit. It leaked out of them with every breath. But not Zane. Coyote pulled up the young man’s stats to find the reason behind this minor miracle.
> Name: Zane
>
> Level: 19
>
> Tier: 3
>
> Race: Kobold
>
> Class: Chef
>
> Abilities: Cat’s Grace x3, Fox’s Swiftness x3, Chef’s Tools x3, Kobold’s Regeneration x2, Trickster's Mind x2, Sorcery Initiate x2, Death Siphon x2, Fox’s Nose x2
>
> Divine Blessings: Dragon’s Courage, Cat’s Confidence, Fox’s Charm
>
> Divinity: Low
>
> Essence: Full
>
> Purity: Extremely Low
What he found made no sense. Zane was obviously a human, and a powerful one at that. Yet the Mesh had him categorized as a lowly kobold. Then there was the matter of the blessings. Finding a host with a divine blessing was rare, and at higher tiers someone might acquire more as they completed challenges and visited temples. But three?
His abilities were also incredible. The Essence required to purchase so many advanced abilities would have bankrupted most noble houses. Either Zane had found a way to get his hands on a stockpile of incredibly potent sacred herbs, or something fucky was going on.
Who are you, Zane? Coyote wondered as he watched the young man run. It was a pointless exercise, to be sure. None could escape a god hollowing them out from the inside. Much less a powerful and wise god such as the Great Shadow Coyote. Even if Zane made it to the fog, which was no doubt his goal, the battle would hardly be won.
Coyote felt a sense of being watched as Zane turned his perceptions inward. Then, the young man teleported, ran some more, then teleported again. What was he up to?
***
The city of Overlook was smaller than Hero’s Step, but anyone living there would happily tell you that size didn’t matter. This statement was usually met with strange looks, coughing fits, or outright laughter. But the citizens of Overlook didn’t pay the outsiders any mind. Their city was higher up on the mountain, and therefore, better than anything below it.
If the fog served as a barrier to prevent lower leveled people from climbing the mountain, then it was self-evident that those who could live at higher altitudes were innately superior. Of course, there were other cities even higher up the mountain, but the citizens of Overlook tried to ignore them. The people there were stuck up, and looked down on their neighbors. (Which was another reason why Overlook was the best.)
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Wen Digo, the Mayor of Overlook, was enjoying his tea on the balcony when he heard the sound of shouting somewhere below him. He peered over to the railing to see what was going on.
A crowd had formed, hooting and hollering as they pointed at something off in the distance. Overlook was built into the side of the mountain and commanded an excellent view of the world below (yet another reason why he was so happy to live there). But today that view was being spoiled by a pink spot off in the distance. It was a naked man, jumping through the air.
Wen was a bureaucrat, not a cultivator. But he was familiar enough with their antics to have great disdain for them. They were always trying some insane trick to boost their cultivation, or challenging one another to see who could eat the most rocks. Sure, he would take their money, but only out of pity.
“That’s not going to end well,” Wen said as he went back to sipping his tea.
***
Zane’s core felt like it was on fire. He had never used so much Essence at once and could feel the heat building in his chest. But the young man could sense the black smoke inside of him weakening with every jump, so he continued. Each bit of Essence spent was another injury for the creature trying to take him over. I just hope it’s enough, Zane thought as he fought through the pain and continued to climb.
The young man was dimly aware of the cold mountain air that threatened to freeze him as he ascended. Being naked was not ideal for his current situation. Though, he wondered if the cold might be preventing his core from boiling him alive.
Progress was slow. The further he teleported, the longer it took him to charge the next one. If he tried to jump too far, he would actually lose altitude instead of gaining it. But his goal was in sight, the wall of fog above him was almost within reach. Of course, Zane had no idea what would happen when he actually got there.
Zane knew that there was a link between Essence and the fog. From how it affected his companions, he suspected that it leached Essence away from anyone who was too low level to fight it off. And if the thing that had taken up residence in his core was made of Essence, (a fact that he could be reasonably sure of considering that he was currently using it to power his abilities), the fog might hurt it.
As he continued to teleport towards the wall of white, the pain in his chest increased. Zane tried to heal himself between jumps, but it was impossible. He could either draw on his core to power his teleport or regenerate, but not both.
Zane gritted his teeth and fought through the pain. He didn’t know how much time he had left before the thing took him over, or if it would still be inside of him when he respawned. But it didn’t matter. He would keep going, even if it killed him. He needed to reach the fog.
His mind started to get hazy from the pain and cold as he continued to ascend. Zane knew that his body was falling apart under the strain of burning so much Essence. In a way, it reminded him of running. Zane had always been good at running.
Growing up in the slums had taught him many lessons. The first of which was to always hold onto what was yours. There was never enough to go around, and any little treasures he might find would be taken by the other boys, if he let them. Running had been his way of escaping them. They might have been bigger, or older, but he could outrun them all. And Zane loved every minute of it.
He loved running. He loved the chase. No matter how much his legs ached or his lungs threatened to burst, Zane kept going. He continued to push himself, leaving nothing in the tank for later. That was the secret to his success. That was why he won.
Zane could almost taste the fog now, and the finish line was within sight. It didn’t matter that his blood was being boiled from the heat of his overworked core. It didn’t matter that his fingers were going numb from the cold. It didn’t matter that the next teleport might kill him. Nothing mattered except the finish line.
He gathered energy from his crumbling core, and ascended.