The momentum of the battle had swung back in the monsters’ favor when the shadowreaver evolved, but the hunters weren’t going down without a fight.

Jumo had reengaged the poisoned monster after Lucky died, trading hits a few feet in front of where Edge stood. Taking Riller’s warning to heart, he moved to attack the stricken creature, looking for an opportunity to land a killing blow.

He realized that its movements were less coordinated than before. That the fiend had grown sluggish over the last few seconds, slow to react to the weapons coming its way. Good. The poison must be taking effect.

The next time that Jumo lunged with his spear, Edge circled behind the reaver and slashed. This time, he landed a clean hit. But even with the extra power provided by his skill, the crude weapon was only able to score a shallow gouge across its feathered flank.

It turned and countered with a swipe of its claws. He saw the attack coming and tried to dodge. But his back was up against the tall grass, and he couldn’t get out of the way. He was only able to move a few feet before three burning lines were drawn across his chest.

The wounds were painful, but not deep enough to cut through his muscles and reach the organs below. He darted away from the grass line and circled the monster, adrenaline singing into his veins. That was a close one. It could have been a lot worse.

He needed to stop the bleeding before it made him weak. He couldn’t afford to heal completely, since it wasn’t enough to bring him down. Edge turned regeneration on just long enough to staunch the crimson flow, intending to save his last bit of mana for another few slashes or a surprise attack with his iceblade.

That was when he realized that Jumo was looking his way, gesturing that Edge should keep on circling, so that they could come at the reaver from both sides at once. He nodded and sprang into motion, keeping just out of reach of the creature’s claws as the other man moved into its blind spot.

When they were in position, Edge feinted to draw the monster’s attention, narrowly avoiding its beak in the process. The moment that it was distracted, Jumo lunged. His heavy spear surging forward to take the reaver in the back. The weapon bit deep, sinking into its torso.

The reaver screamed and tried to escape, but pain and poison made it clumsy and easy to predict. Before it could get away, Edge slashed hard, claw-sword cutting into the side of its neck. He ducked below a wild swipe, then stepped out of the path for a second, bringing his weapon down on the monster’s leg to hamper its mobility.

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When its head came down, he thrust, catching the creature in the eye. This time, it was enough to finish it off. He knew that it was dead because his Guide appeared in front of his face, displaying a message that he was able to absorb in a single glance before waving it out of existence.

For defeating a cored opponent holding mortium, you have earned 1 mortium.

You have accumulated sufficient experience to cycle-up your core. Your new cycle is [6].

You have two attribute points awaiting allocation.

Shit. If that one had a mortium, the reavers already killed someone on the way here.

Mortium formed naturally when a monster or cored individual evolved to stage-two. They could only be obtained before then by defeating an opponent who had one. You couldn’t spend your own core mortium point and beasts didn’t use them at all. One of the little twists the System had developed that made Prison World so enticing to its viewers.

But Edge couldn’t afford to worry about any of that now. Nor did he have time to contemplate his options at his leisure. He’d been granted a chance to grow stronger in the middle of a desperate battle, and he needed to spend his points fast. Right now, he had to choose whatever attribute would improve his odds of eliminating the stage-two monster that was rampaging a few yards away.

His opening strike had barely been powerful enough to cut down a stage-one reaver. But it was a mana-intensive maneuver that he couldn’t repeat given the state of his reserves. The rest of his slashes hadn’t been able to inflict critical damage, and the evolved monster was even tougher than the rest.

He needed to hit harder if he wanted to land a lethal blow, especially without the aid of his skills. Amplification wouldn’t do him much good with so little mana in the tank, and the fight would be over well before generation could help to restore what was missing.

It meant that in this moment, what Edge needed most was… Power. He sent his intentions into his Guide, spending both attribute points at once.

The instant that he confirmed his selection, potentia flowed out from his core and into his body. The transformative energy went surging into his muscles and tendons, burning like acid in his arteries. Edge could feel their fibers dissolving and then reforming, all within the span of a breath.

While his muscles were only a bit bigger after the changes were complete, they were far more efficient than before, increasing the strength behind every move that he made.

But that was the extent of the good news. Though they had taken another monster out of the fight, the spawn had finished forming during the interim. Two more stage-one reavers came rushing across the battlefield to fall upon the hunters in time with their kin.

With Jumo at his side, Edge turned to face the shadowreavers, ready to make his stand with Trapper’s crew. With a cry of rage, all four monsters rushed forward and attacked, spreading out to engage each of the hunters one-on-one.

He raised his blade and prepared to take on the fiend headed his way. But with Trapper out of action, two of his impromptu allies wounded, and everyone down to the last drops of their mana, he didn’t see any way out of this mess.

Today had been an emotional roller coaster. Edge had gone from low, to high, to low again. But now he was taking a plunge deeper than any of the rest.

He had a few final seconds to start climbing again, or they were all going to die.