There were very few things that Eve feared within the tutorial anymore. In the beginning there had been a great many things that could kill her with barely a thought. But she had evolved past being afraid of the beasts that roamed the wilds, and she stood at the head of all the humans within the tutorial.
The only things that still gave her a measure of anxiety were the overseers, the biome lords, and maybe…
The overseer named Kal'o Kir in particular scared her. That one's existence posed a special threat because they weren't bound by the rules of the overseers, and they could freely antagonize and demoralize the humans as much as they wished.
And if their goal was indeed to antagonize the humans, there were several key figures that could be killed to achieve that end. Of course, the leaders of the camps as well as Zane and herself were top of that list, but there was another in Arkania that had done more than anyone to help stabilize the morale of the humans. Phil. So if that fucker wanted someone to target to antagonize the humans, Phil made for a pretty damn good target.
The feeling she got looking at the enlightened apes was the same one she'd felt when she'd laid eyes on the lord of the plains. That they were existences far beyond that of ordinary beasts.
"Devon!" She shouted, "We need to pull back! This is too much-!" But a system notification stopped her mid-sentence.
[Ascension Quest]
Kill an Enlightened Ape.
Fuck!
It was as absurd of an ascension quest as the one the system had given Devon back in the spirit dungeon. No, it was even more absurd given the situation. Most likely, she could take a single ape. But in the scenario they themselves had created she didn't have the luxury of picking and choosing her fight.
If things go according to plan all of them will target Devon. It'll probably give me a chance to swoop in and kill a single one, but the chances of Devon surviving a coordinated onslaught from the other three are basically zero.
If she stuck to the original plan she could fulfill her ascension quest and attempt to make an escape after Devon inevitably died, but she recoiled internally at the fact that she could even consider it as an option.
Still, I doubt this shimmering barrier they just erected is any stronger than the one that alchemist from the spirit dungeon made, so I can probably break through it with Heavy Impact if I really need to.
Or she could jump into the fray alongside the man and try to weather their assault alongside him. This option posed much more of a threat to her, but it was nowhere near as detestable. But even within that course of action there was no guarantee anything would change. If monster behavior was as Devon described it, they still might ignore her entirely and go for Devon, which would lead to them both being overwhelmed and dead.
So she…
Just as she was about to decide, she saw two of the apes turn their heads toward her, snapping her out of her thoughts. The savage and the flesh melder leaped off the platform towards her.
Hey, this isn't what was supposed to happen!
Even as she complained internally she felt a wave of relief. That decision was one she never wanted to be confronted with again. Being forced to fight these two on her own was much, much, more preferable.
The savage flew in first, bringing a massive fist down on her. She swung her custom axe up to meet the blow, and was surprised when it didn't sink into flesh but instead clashed against a gauntlet made of bone.
A gift from your friend, eh?
The force of the two blows colliding sent out a shockwave, with the force behind both being almost even. The ape's blow had the weight of gravity behind it, but she had the leverage of the solid ground beneath her.
Eve's sixth sense warned her of impending danger from the right, so she shifted her stance to deflect the residual energy of the clash with the roided up ape. The ape's massive bone-encrusted fist smashed into the ground to the right of Eve, blocking the mass of something that had tried to hit her from the side.
She frantically moved back, dodging a wild swing from the savage. As she repositioned she saw the flesh melder beyond the hulking form of the savage, its grotesque body seeming to undulate uncontrollably.
The savage didn't give her time to be repulsed by the image of that thing's flesh moving beneath its skin. It pressed the attack by sending a series of punches her way. She knocked them aside one after the other, amazed by how much effort it took to deflect the blows. The savage's muscles definitely weren't just for show, she could feel that if she took more than one direct blow it would probably be the end of her.
Even so, she got the feeling the story was the same for the ape.
The savage seemed to take the concept of overwhelming power before all else to heart. But she knew all too well that overwhelming strength left other attributes lacking. And that was something she could exploit.
Beneath those bone gauntlets is nothing but bare flesh, so if I break them then you won't be able to take my axe head on!
Just as she was about to activate Heavy Impact she felt the need to dodge. So she leaped backward and saw a writhing mass of flesh charge through the space where she'd just been standing.
What the hell is that?
The mass ceased writhing for a moment after it passed through the space she'd been before it seemed to convulse violently and then it got sucked back in the direction it came from. She looked to the right, feeling a sense of abject horror as the mass of flesh was sucked into the body of the flesh melder.
Eve almost couldn't react to the next onslaught from the savage, she was so taken aback by the disgusting nature of the flesh melder's ability. She'd thought the malformed ape looked disgusting to begin with, but seeing its ability made her revulsion rise all the higher.
She wanted to go and kill that thing before it launched any more disgusting attacks, but she knew the savage wouldn't give her the space to break away. She also didn't want to get close to the thing, but that in itself wasn't a problem.
Stepping to the left, Eve tried to position herself better so that the flesh melder wouldn't have a clear line of sight to launch any more ranged attacks. However, the savage seemed to realize what she was trying to do and copied her movements, refusing to let her out of the flesh melder's line of sight. Even kept moving and the savage kept pressing the attack, leading them into a perpetual motion that the flesh melder was forced to follow along with.
It was lucky the bumbling thing had next to no agility, because it struggled to keep up with Eve and the savage.
If it's lagging behind then I'll see if I can't wear down these gauntlets in a few smaller clashes.
She was afraid if she pulled out Heavy Impact to try and break one of the bone gauntlets that their clash would lock her in place for more than a second as it had when she'd blocked the savage's initial attack. The flesh melder wasn't quick enough to keep up with their fast-paced combat, but if she stopped for anything she was sure it would capitalize on the opportunity to launch another attack at her.
So she gritted her teeth and focused on deflecting punches and contesting ones that had less force behind them. And then she moved, and the savage moved with her, always positioning itself so that she was exposed to the bulbous thing that stalked their fight.
Pretty smart for an ape, aren't you?
After more than three dozen deflected attacks she finally started to notice a change. The gauntlets didn't show any external weaknesses, but she could feel it through their repeated clashes. They felt less solid.
When the savage attacked her next she pivoted and put her back into contesting the attack. Their attacks canceled each other out for only a moment before the ape's right gauntlet cracked and fell apart. Her axe left a gouge in the ape's fist before she jumped back and kept moving. There was no point in overcommitting to the attack when most of its momentum had already been spent breaking the gauntlet.
That's one down. I can keep wearing the other down until it breaks as well.
But when the savage attacked next it didn't use its gauntleted hand. It swung with its exposed right again.
The move caught Eve completely off guard but her body, trained by numerous life or death struggles, still reacted instinctually. She swung her axe to meet the blow, but her lapse in judgment was her undoing.
The ape opened its fist as it swung, and as Eve's axe pierced the flesh of its palm the hand closed, trapping her axe within the meaty grip of the buff ape. Eve scowled as she was forced to let go of her weapon and dodge backwards lest the flesh melder get a clear shot.
But the savage wasn't content with simply taking her weapon. It became even more aggressive than it had been before, and Eve found herself on the receiving end of a wild flurry of blows without anything to defend herself with. It didn't give her enough space or time to pull out a secondary weapon from her tile.
Fine then, you stupid ape! You want a piece of me? Come on!
She planted her feet against the ground and punched back against the ape's massive fist. She felt the weight of Heavy Impact flow through her, and their clash sent a shockwave out around them.
She winced from the feeling of the bones in her hand cracking from punching a solid gauntlet and from the strain of channeling Heavy Impact through a single limb. Though she was capable of putting out a tremendous amount of force thanks to her incredibly high strength, her body wasn't able to fully take the abuse if she cut loose with her skills like this due to her endurance not matching her strength.
Even so, her Heavy Impact imbued fist demolished the ape's bone gauntlet, and she saw several of the fingers underneath bend out of shape as her fist plowed forward. The full force of Heavy Impact blew the savage's arm back, making it look like an overinflated ragdoll.
However, she knew even as she saw the savage recoil that the clash would cost her. She turned and put as much force into a leap backwards as she could, but the wave of undulating flesh was too fast.
The arm she'd punched with was enveloped, and she felt the mass grip her limb and pull her in towards it. She screamed in pain as it felt like her arm was getting ripped apart, but she gritted her teeth and pulled with all her might.
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With a sickening squelch her arm was pulled free, and she couldn't help but wince at the sight of it. The extension of the flesh melder's body may as well have contained a thousand piranhas, because that was what it looked like her arm had been ravaged by. Only bits and pieces of skin remained, almost all of the underlying flesh was exposed to the world.
She reached for her tile, intending to pull a healing item out, but with a screech the savage jumped straight over the mass of extended flesh. It swung its fist down toward her, and she desperately rolled to the side to avoid it.
It seemed as though her skill had completely broken the ape's arm, as it only swung with its right while the left hung limp at its side.
Eve cursed internally as she continued to avoid the ape's blows as her vision turned red. The pain from her arm was simply too great, it threatened to blot out the world if she didn't deal with it fast.
She closed her uninjured fist, and when she reopened it an orb of light sat in her palm. She held it to the sky and activated the skill. A blinding flash of light shot out from the orb, and the savage screeched as its retinas were seared by the unexpected light.
This was Eve's defensive ace, a skill called Distraction. Of course, it could be used to blind an enemy before she went on the offensive as well, but she preferred to use it as her emergency defense. Instead of consuming mana, the skill operated on a 15 minute cooldown, so it wasn't like she could use it repeatedly.
She looked over and felt relief that the flesh melder also seemed to be stunned by the light. As quickly as she could, she retrieved a healing pill from her inventory and took it. The pain relieving effects from the item were blissful, but she didn't allow herself to get distracted. Her arm was in the process of healing, but that didn't mean she was going to let her chance go by.
The savage was shaking its head and blinking its eyes, trying to restore its vision as fast as it could. Eve wouldn't let it have the chance to ever see anything again.
She stepped in close while its guard was down and punched it in the face with everything she had using her good arm. She once again felt the weight of Heavy Impact flow through her as she caved the ape's skull in with her bare fist.
Kill - [The Savage, Enlightened Ape - Level 43] - 538 Talons
[Ascension Quest Complete]
[Level up. Level 41 obtained.]
[Level up. Level 42 obtained.]
Eve scowled as she tried to fling blood and brain matter off her hand as she stepped away from the savage's corpse. She turned her attention to the flesh melder's disgusting visage. There was no way she was going to get close to that thing.
Luckily, she didn't have to.
Her class, Big Game Hunter, was one she'd chosen because it specialized in strength and was tailored to taking down strong enemies. The idea had appealed greatly to her. But it also came with an unintended side to it.
She reached into her tile and pulled out something she never thought she'd actually use. It was a massive bow, more than twice the size of the ones used by all the other archers she'd seen.
The thing was extremely rough, and it was ugly to look at to boot. Most other archers wouldn't even be able to pull back the triple woven bowstring, which had proven necessary after only a single or double string had been prone to snapping under the force the weapon exerted.
Most of the rankers on the ladder would be lucky to get Nix's approval to meet her weapon crafter, but because Eve had been top of the leaderboard since the beginning Nix had made an exception. Eve had been gifted both the axe and the bow, though she knew it was simply meant to be an enticement to join Nix's camp.
Everyone wants to pull me this way and that way. Like I care. All I want is to get stronger and be able to protect Phil.
Most archers relied on their dexterity stat to be accurate and deal effective damage with bows. The passive skill that Eve's class came with allowed her to use half of her strength in place of dexterity to aim. She would never be as accurate as a real archer, so things like fast moving targets or slippery enemies would pose an issue. But she had more raw power in her arrows than they could ever hope for.
Now that she thought back on it, she probably could have blown at least one of the apes away from a distance before they'd gotten into this mess. She simply hadn't expected to find these four when Devon had described the dungeon as a place teeming with level 20 and 30 beasts.
Eve flexed her still damaged arm. Having her entire arm stripped bare of skin and some of the underlying flesh was a wound that would take several minutes to heal, even with the magical properties of the healing item. Even so, as long as the muscles still worked she could use it so long as she didn't do anything that would make it take more damage. She could live with the pain.
The flesh melder was further away than the savage had been, so it hadn't been affected as much by her Distraction. Its ranged assault resumed before she had a chance to draw her bow and fire a shot, but she didn't mind that much now that she didn't have the savage breathing down her neck. She simply moved out of the way and took aim.
Her arrows were as massive as the bow itself, custom-made for the bow. They had to be, both because they wouldn't be able to fit on the bowstring and if they weren't oversized they'd lack the kinetic energy she was capable of outputting.
She took a breath to steady herself as she focused on her target. The pain of using her arm while it was still damaged cut through the numbing effects of the healing item, but she ignored it. She drew an arrow back, held to be sure of her aim, and released it.
Her projectile shot towards the flesh melder at a speed it couldn't possibly avoid, and the arrow pierced through its inflated body.
A geyser of blood spewed out of the wound, but Eve tsked in annoyance. She'd missed center mass, and it seemed like her shot hadn't been enough to kill it in a single blow.
Eve was about to ready her bow to take another shot when a dazzling silver light radiated across the chasm. She looked over to where Devon was fighting the other two apes and saw a dazzling array of silver streams streak across the chasm in every direction.
She had to throw herself to the side to dodge one of the errant rays, but when she looked up she realized she wasn't the only one getting caught in the crossfire. One of the curving beams of silver had directly struck the flesh melder, and when the silver light faded away she saw its body spasming uncontrollably.
Sensing weakness, she drew another arrow as the light show died down. With another snap of the bowstring her arrow once again pierced the bulbous ape's hide. But unlike the geyser of blood that had spilled forth before, a torrent of flesh burst forth out of the hole.
Unlike the flesh attacks it had sent her way previously, the mass of meat that spilled out of the flesh melder didn't seem controlled. It was like the enlightened ape was losing control of its own powers, and Eve didn't like the idea of letting it run amok.
From the beginning the question had been in the back of her mind; Where was the mass the flesh melder was using coming from? Was it generated out of nothing using mana? While she couldn't discount the fact that it was entirely possible for things to be created out of nothing in their new reality, there was another possibility that seemed far more likely to her.
Devon had said this place had been full to bursting of apes before, yet now there were only four. So where had the corpses of the others gone? They hadn't encountered any at all on their way in, and there were none to be seen here in the heart of their lair either.
The bone architect and the flesh melder. They'd butchered their kin to make weapons out of the scraps of their bodies.
She drew her bow again, but just as she was about to fire the body of the flesh melder seemed to rupture completely. Its hide tore apart as an unrelenting tide of meat and viscera flooded out of its body.
At first she thought it was over, that her first shot and the friendly fire it received had actually damaged it enough that it was no longer able to control its powers and it had been destroyed by them. However, she quickly realized that assumption was mistaken.
The flesh kept pouring out of a source at the center of the writhing mass, and the flesh still seemed alive. Vain imitations of hands and limbs sprung forth, grasping for anything they could get ahold of as the tide of meat engulfed more and more of the chasm.
How… How could it possibly have contained so much mass within its body?
Fleshy tendrils shot out towards the buildings around it, towards the ceiling, and towards her. She desperately avoided all of them, but the mass of flesh just kept expanding and expanding. The tendrils lifted it off the ground, suspending a giant ball of meat that contained the source of it all even as it continued to spill out more and more. If this kept up the entire space within the cave would be swallowed by the unrelenting tide of flesh.
Eve's mind raced. Her arrows could likely still pierce the massive suspended ball of flesh, but she had zero confidence she could locate the source of the abominations within to destroy it. Then with a start she realized the shimmering shield that had been erected around the cavern was gone.
Wait, I could escape right now.
She didn't like turning her back to the enemy, but in this situation she could see no other options. There was simply no hope-
A hand landed on her shoulder, and she jumped a little from surprise.
Next to her stood Devon, who looked like he'd been through absolute hell. His skin seemed like it had been seared over a fire and there were several holes poked through him.
Yet his eyes shone with an unearthly light, and patterns of cyan lines like runes ran over the whites around his pupils. They were similar to the lines that could be seen within the enlightened ape's eyes, yet distinctly different.
"You can pierce through that thing, can't you?"
She was shaken out of her state of shock by his question, "N… Naturally. But I don't know what I'd be aiming for. It's all…"
"Don't worry. All you need do is take aim."
Her fear seemed to fade away at the confident and steady tone of his voice. It assured her that despite how bleak the situation was, there was a way through.
She took a deep breath and drew her bow. Now that she was fully focused she realized why she'd missed center mass before. There was a slight quiver in her damaged arm, one that was ever so faint but would still throw her shots off course if she didn't focus. Her breathing steadied and she felt the quiver go away.
"Now… See the world through my eyes."
Eve felt something alien touch something deep within her. In any other instance she would have violently recoiled, but the state of sublime focus Devon had lured her into kept her cool. The sensation was akin to being given a gentle hug or perhaps an encouraging pat on the back.
Something came into view amid that writhing orb of suspended flesh. Something tangible yet incorporeal. It was barely perceptible, but she did not doubt her eyes. She didn't know how she knew it, but she was certain that was the center of the abomination.
Heavy Impact was a skill that could be applied to any of her attacks, no matter the weapon. She felt the weight of the ability flow into the bow and arrow as she focused her entire being on her form. There was no room for error here.
Eve breathed in, breathed out… and released the bowstring.
Any tendrils in the arrow's path were severed or obliterated entirely before it punched a hole straight through the horror's core. She heard a crash from behind the mass of flesh from the arrow exploding against the cave wall or a ruined building.
The entire thing froze, then convulsed before the forces that gave it life were unraveled and it all fell to the cavern floor in a giant mess. The goop continued to spread, but it did not possess the will or life it had before as it expanded. It was merely the dead mass settling against the floor of rubble. Then it started to disintegrate. First from the outer edges then inwards it turned to ash that floated into the air before returning to nothingness.
Kill - [The Flesh Melder, Enlightened Ape - Level 45] - 562 Talons
[Level up. Level 43 obtained.]
[Level up. Level 44 obtained.]
[Level up. Level 45 obtained.]
Clear – Class E naturally occurring Dungeon [Mountain Lair]
Calculating performance… Done.
Performance Rating: B
Contribution: 40%
Tailoring B-Grade Reward based on Contribution… Done.
"What… What was that?" She asked, amazed. But when she turned to Devon he was no longer at her shoulder. He was collapsed on the ground, unconscious as blood pooled on the stone beneath him.
Eve was certain now. When she'd come into the tutorial there had been many things that had frightened her, but she'd overcome the vast majority of her fears. The apes too had now been overcome.
All that remained within the tutorial that she felt could truly threaten her were the overseers, the biome lords… and Devon.
The man's power was completely inexplicable. He was almost 10 levels beneath her, yet he'd managed to also take down two creatures that had given her so much trouble.
And that sensation… What the hell was that?
She noticed with a shock that the man's injuries weren't closing, meaning he hadn't yet taken a healing item. Most likely his focus had been so intense he hadn't spared a thought for his injuries before losing consciousness.
She took a healing item out of her inventory. The man was a dangerous enigma, but it wasn't like she was just going to let him bleed out. She still had him to thank for giving her the opportunity to rescue Phil.
After she fed him the pill she dragged his body behind her as she made her way towards the glowing terminal that had appeared in the center of the cavern. She bought a cot and threw his unconscious body onto it before going to retrieve her axe.
She returned to the terminal, content to go over her gains for a while. And once she was done with that… it was time to actually think about what she wanted to do. The decision she'd almost been forced to make before the battle weighed on her mind. From a certain perspective it resembled another choice she needed to make, one she'd been putting off.
It's time to stop thinking with my fists.