Tyler stared blankly at Yarla for a good long second. Did he just hear her right? No, he couldn't have, right? His mind whirled at her statement for a good couple of seconds before he mentally shook his head. Either way, he decided to ask her. Just to make sure she wasn't joking around and pulling his leg. Though it came off as more incredulous then he liked.
"What, kill you? Why would I...how..."
His eyes darted between the dagger, which he now had in his hands on pure instinct, and the fallen goddess before him. Surely she wasn't asking for him to actually kill her. Her words stopped his train of thought however.
"Yes, I am asking you to kill me. As I have stated previously, I only have a few decades at most before my body finally cannot sustain my soul and I end up dead regardless. I would rather die sooner than later if I am being honest. I would do it myself but, well one of the things these chains do is prevent me from harming myself. Would you not do the same in my position, hatchling?"
He thought about it, going over her words. Really, he couldn't fault her logic. If she was going to die regardless, and couldn't do it herself, she needed someone to put an end to her so she could be at peace. Were he in the same situation, he wasn't sure he would not have gone mad. Then again who was he to question a divine being's mental state?
"I still don't like it. I've never enjoyed hurting people unless they deserve it, and even then..." Tyler shook his head and took a deep breath, attempting to calm his nerves.
Yarla simply gave him a sad smile. "No one likes hurting others unless they are broken. Even my sister used to hesitate to take lives before the power went to her head. But..." She looked at him with a strange glint in her eye.
"Part of me will technically live on in you, as is befitting a legacy class. If you gain enough power I could return. You will also gain quite a bit of Historum for slaying a deity, and experience as well. It's a win-win for both of us."
The look she gave him was pleading, even as she said it. Tyler had to hold up a hand with a sigh.
"I...fine, if that's what you really want. But what the hell is Historum?"
She smiled wryly at him, making Tyler huff slightly.
"An esoteric value assigned by the system. As you climb higher in power you need to have feats and titles to break through barriers combined with forging yourself. Otherwise literally anyone could be power-leveled with enough money. The gist is that skills, titles, deeds, and such all accumulate as Historum. Not enough Historum and you won't be able to break through from say, True Tin to Low Copper. And yes, I can see it in your face. FInd a library. I'm not an exposition device on how the world and mana cultivation works. Though, you should probably ditch the level inhibitor."
Tyler lowered a finger, showing that he was going to ask what the hell True Tin and Low Copper were. But then he frowned.
"Level Inhibitor? Wait, you mean the System Integration Device? They told me...god dammit."
Grabbing the gold and scarlet jewelry given to him by Renara, he tossed it at the nearby wall, causing it to break with a few sparks. His reaction made Yarla laugh.
"Indeed, that type of item is meant for slaves and thralls. It simply serves to keep one from becoming too strong. Now, onto important matters. Do it and take the river south, it should lead you out of here eventually. To where I do not know but there is air coming from that direction. Live free, hatchling. And pay back those who betrayed you."
She said the last part in a more serious tone, looking straight into Tyler's eyes with her own that swirled like galaxies, the eyes on her mass of mawed tentacles blinking in a rhythm that made him shudder. Stealing his nerves, Tyler stepped forward, his hand gripping the hilt of the magical dagger. Yarla exposed her chest to him and were this not a serious situation he may have commented on her body, but this was not the time. Aiming the blade where her heart should be, he thrust forward. There was a bit of resistance, but eventually the purple-tinged blade sunk into the pale flesh and a small grunt from Yarla was all the reaction he got as she slumped over, her chin resting on his shoulder as black ichor dripped from her lips.
"Thank you..."
Then, her body began to distort and slowly before Tyler's very own eyes, the mass of tentacles, eyes and mouths began to dissolve into motes of purple light. Most of them disappeared into nothingness but a few, maybe a couple percent of the whole, entered his body and made him freeze up as power flooded him, a tattoo forming on his right hand. As Yarla fully faded from known reality, a flood of prompts filled his vision as his body seemed to burn.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Congratulations, you have slain [Redacted], aka Yarla, Fallen Goddess of Abyssal Prolificacy.
You gain ERROR
...
What the hell is- oh, you again. I told you not to make a habit of this, let's see. Ah, you killed her, good on you.
Right, rewards. Well obviously I can't grant you the full rewards but whatever. Have this.
...
You gain the following:
Title: [Godslayer]
Look at you, killing divinity before even reaching Level 10. A shame it was just assisted suicide at best. Still, good job regardless.
Effect: Will +25, Effectiveness of Will +25% when facing a Divine-level being or higher.
Temporary Buff: [XP Aura]
You and people around you gain 75% Added Experience towards levels and skills until you reach Level 30. Try not to let it go to waste.
Bonus experience gained for killing an enemy above your level.
Experience is reduced by 95% due to circumstantial variables.
Congratulations, You have reached Level 19. You have 50 Unused Stat Points.
A rapid amount of colorless system energy invaded Tyler's body to the point he was lifted a few inches off the air as he screamed wordless in pain as he was power leveled. Eventually the damage was so much he passed out and collapsed to the ground.
It took some time before he was able to rouse himself from his knocked-out state, and Tyler rubbed his head in irritation as the headache slowly faded from his brain.
"Alright, note to self. Do not powerlevel like this. At all."
Seriously, it felt like his teeth were vibrating all at different frequencies and it took a half hour of head shaking and heavy breathing before he felt normal. Looking around, the cave now seemed empty and sad without Yarla around. Why was he so upset, he had just MET the woman. Maybe it was because she had saved his life and given him power, or some other reason he couldn't figure out at the moment. But regardless, he wasn't going to let her sacrifice go to waste. Looking over his stat sheet, he had to whistle. Having jumped ten levels, all two of his resources had jumped to 300 each, with Stamina lagging behind at 237. Probably because it was, from what he could tell, tied to his Endurance. Again, math was never his strong suit. With fifty free points to distribute, Tyler thought about his new cards and how he wanted to proceed. His current kit was a caster, that much was certain so he hadn't changed that much. His Strength and Charisma were his lowest attributes so he put 5 into each, bringing them both to 20. This caused his Stamina to jump to 259. So it seemed endurance was somehow tied to Strength? He supposed that made sense.
With 40 points left, he thought about it before shrugging. He put 20 into Constitution, and 20 into Intelligence, bringing both to 41. His body shivered at the sudden change and he felt sweaty all of a sudden but other than that there wasn't much of a physical change on his body. His Mana and Health did jump to 490 respectively though, that was nice. His secondary attributes had grown too, what with Endurance sitting at 24, Perception at 25, and Will at a whopping 34.
He felt like the latter should be higher, but maybe it just had a really low...what was the word? Coefficient, constant? Either way it didn't matter. Looking at the river leading down, he grimaced and looked at his tattered and blood-stained robe. He'd have to somehow find new clothes if he ever found civilization again. So, with a bit of hesitancy, Tyler made his way down the river, eyes wary of anything that popped out towards him. He only slightly grimaced as his feet, which were bare for some unknown reason, squelched against the mud of the underground river bank. It didn't take too long for him to stumble onto his first new enemy about forty minutes into his trek.
The thing in front of him was vaguely humanoid, but hunched over. It would have stood about 4 feet tall if it wasn't stooped over like an old grandpa. Warts and swellings covered its body, giving off a sickly feeling. It was clothed in only a loincloth and was male given the lack of breasts. It had a wooden club in it's right hand and it seemed to stumble about supidly before it spotted Tyler. It looked at him blankly, which gave Tyler just enough time to use [Analyze].
Name: Cavern Lodyte
Level: 20
The creature decided just then to bellow out a wet gurgle scream as it rushed at him. Now the word rushed here was perhaps a bit of an over-exaggeration. The thing was slow and clumsy, perhaps as fast as a mall cop at best. Still, it was best to be on guard as that club likely did a number if it hit. Cursing at no longer having his staff, Tyler just barely ducked under the creature's first attack as it raged towards him. The wood and stone weapon made his pale hair flutter slightly as it passed by. Right, best not get hit by that then. Digging into his memories subconsciously, he remembered a few basic punching and martial arts techniques from when he was in his early 20s. Clenching his fist, he pulled his arm back, then pushed his torso forward in time with a punch he sent at the creature's face. There was a meaty smack of fist hitting face as the creature stumbled from the unexpected blow.
Not hesitating as adrenaline pumped into his veins, Tyler lashed out with a side kick to the creature's side, pushing it back even more. Were he wearing boots or had some kind of shin guards, he may have done actual damage. For now, it seems he just stunned the Lodyte momentarily. Hopping backwards to gain some distance between himself and the monster, Tyler raised a hand and called upon one of his new cards.
"Grasping Tentacles!"
Below the dazed monster, a portal layer of dark purple energy with shifting black patterns materialized. A second later, thick tentacles made of pure energy emerged, latching onto the Lodyte with suckers and inflicting the debuff the description had stated. Tyler had to admit, it looked gross. Veins of black...something, crawled up the create where flesh met tentacle and by the time the stun from his kick had worn off, it was too late. The Lodyte slowly made to attack Tyler, but was taking heavy damage as it had been in the active area for too long. Blisters and bruises began to grow on its body before what little color the skin had faded to a desaturated gray.
The Lodyte, sensing something was wrong, tried to move faster while batting away at the tendrils of energy. But eventually, it succumbed to its wounds as cracks spread along its body. It collapsed shortly after and fell to the ground with one last death cry before its body splattered like an egg with parts going everywhere. Honestly the sight made Tyler sick to the stomach seeing it happen in real time and he had to dry heave near the river for a few seconds.
You have slain: Cavern Lodyte x1
Bonus experience gained for killing an enemy above your level.
As if that wasn't enough, a stream of muddy brown and muted gray energy made its way from the creature's corpse and into Tyler's open and still heaving mouth, making him gag at the taste. It wasn't horrible or anything, but it felt like he lust licked a metal rod covered in mud.
"Nasty, that must be the Eldritch Scion consumption passive..." He mused aloud.
"No card gained though. Doubt it had any. It was too weak."
External thinking aside, Tyler just pushed himself back up to his feet and carefully stepped away from the pile of gore and muck that was the Lodyte's corpse and continued his trek south.