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Slave Origin Playthrough [Grimdark Gamelit]
Chapter 23: Desolate Sands (13)

Chapter 23: Desolate Sands (13)

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"Thoughts"

"Speech"

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I couldn’t just dodge out of the way and hope that the Ujo followed me in. I needed to be in the poison cloud myself, ensuring that the monster became intoxicated. What I hadn’t expected was for the creature to fly without slamming into the ground or the underbelly of the stone tortoise, shooting towards me like a bullet. I fell flat to the floor, my limbs sprawled out.

The Ujo slammed into one of the pillar-like legs and fell. It shook its head vigorously and began to sneeze. My [Bleed] stacks were still active and the poison was seeping into the wounds now.

The same could be said for me though, my vision was already blurring.

The Stone Tortoise roared and stomped down on the still dazed Ujo. There was no crunch of bone breaking, just a animalistic squeal as the creature fell flat to the floor.

The Stone Tortoise stomped on the Ujo repeatedly.

I felt someone grab me by the arms and drag me out, navigating through the chaos.

There was a burning sensation in my throat and it worsened everytime I tried to take a breath. I began to hack and cough as warmth began spreading through my body. There was someone speaking rapidly next to my ear but I couldn’t catch it above the Stone Tortoise’s roar, the sound of its stomping and the Ujo's frenzied screaming. I didn’t dare tear my eyes away from the two monsters; waiting for the sign that my plan had worked.

The Ujo’s claws toe into the already open gashes left by L’teya. If the creature knew that it was poisoned, it did not care. The clawed-bird tore open the wound wider and started to rip off chunks of flesh with the surrounding stone scales, its long tongue flicking out to taste flecks of blood. The Stone Tortoise however was the opposite, it went mad with pain and began stomping. Finally it used the move I had told L’teya to watch out for, its legs withdrew into the shell. Without its pillars, the tortoises body fell on its assailant.

Too bad that the Ujo was immune to physical damage at this point.

The creature got back up, unphased and continued to tear into the tortoise.

My head was drooping and I saw Lety’s shoes enter my field of vision. Though it took more effort than expected, I raised my head to look at Clover and Lety.

「Clover Weinport casts [Enhanced Regeneration] 」

「Clover Weinport casts [Detoxify] 」

I felt my wounds close up little by little. They were still green and bubbling, though even that was starting to recede. Examining my body, I saw that there was no black spots and neither did L’teya.

“What next Slaveborn.” She had just been on the brink of death but the fire in her eyes did not go out.

I looked at the poisonous cloud and the two creatures fighting within.

The Stone Tortoise had already entered phase 3, there were stone pieces orbiting around its shell. They weren’t just orbiting, but moved on the same planar axis that the tortoise’s shell did, adding a complexity to its movements. This kept the Ujo from flying away; keeping the creature caged in.

The [Bleed] and [Poisoned] status effects had successfully stacked; Ujo had entered its phase two.

“Heal me.” I muttered to Clover.

“What?”

「Ujo casts [Hateful Wound] 」

All the wounds that were still open on me spurted blood and grew in size instantly. Shallow cuts grew deeper and wider, revealing soft tissue. Some lacerations grew enough to show the bone beneath, where I could reach in and grab my skeleton if I wanted. The pain was almost unbearable and I screamed for the hundredth time today.

Was it even the same day?

Clover pumped me so full of mana that I felt it in my blood streams. This body didn’t have a talent for mana control, being a mage was out of the question. But I did have some sort of Mana Sense because whenever Clover used basic mana techniques to enhance her hearing or boost her physical strength; I could tell. For me and L’teya this strengthening process happened more naturally. I remember Arrosh telling me not to bother yet as my body was utilizing it naturally and it’d be awhile before I could grow enough of a mana pool to control it.

Perhaps Clover really was talented and that was why she drew Oung’s attention, not just her heritage as a beastman.

Clover fought to keep the wounds from widening and mostly succeeded. I knew that the cooldown for this skill was a particularly long one, so we had some time until I had to get healed again.

“What was that?!” Clover snapped. “You almost died!”

I didn’t bother asking how she could tell. Becoming a Priestess must have come with loads of benefits.

“Stay away from the Ujo. It’s already poisoned. Focus on the Stone Turtle.” I stood up. “Clover… conserve your mana. When it uses that ability again, I might die for real this time.”

The only good thing about [Hateful Wound] was that it wasn’t targeted: anything that the Ujo wounded within range would be affected. The Stone Tortoise had been affected as well.

I looked at the scene. The Stone Tortoise slamming the ground with its [Body Slam] and its [Stone Orbit] keeping the Ujo caged in. The grade-8 monster had expelled all the poison though, the poison mist was gone. The Ujo flew around the stones, getting slammed by them occasionally but taking no damage. It hissed and continued to yell my name, darting in to rip the scales off of the tortoise.

Now that they were in their final phases and pitted against each other, we could finish the fight. There were no more tricks or strategy I could implement. There was only one thing left to do now.

“Now we just have to beat the shit out of them.”

I ran in with L’teya.

I immediately got knocked back by the resulting shockwave from the Stone Tortoises body slam but darted back in.

1 minute.

It was difficult to get the Ujo’s attention again but as soon as it saw me, it dive bombed me like a starstruck lover. I misjudged the timing of my dodge and ended up slamming into one of the Stone Tortoises rocks, my wounds opening back up.

3 minutes.

The Stone tortoise used a body slam again and both L’teya and I got knocked away. Clover spammed her heal spell, keeping us energized just barely enough to jump back into the fray.

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5 minutes.

「Ujo casts [Hateful Wound] 」

I fell unconscious.

10 minutes.

I was brought out of the battle by L’teya but she suffered a broken arm while shielding me from a falling stone. Clover tried to close all my wounds but I told her don’t bother and went to open up some more [Bleed] wounds on the Ujo.

13 minutes.

Clover was getting better at healing because L’teya’s arm was fixed. L’teya hacked away at the Stone Tortoise’s leg and the creature fell to that side, the limb black from rot. No more body slams.

15 minutes.

Another [Hateful Wound]. Clover had closed most of my wounds though and I only blacked out for a second or two. I woke up to see Ujo ripping off a strip of flesh from my ribs. I stabbed it in the eye with my jagged sword.

16 minutes.

L’teya suffered a head injury and I had to pull her out. The Stone Tortoise had lost all of its limbs now; lying on the floor helpless. This distracted the Ujo enough for Clover to take care of L’teya and for me to bathe myself in healing potions. I shouldn’t have because I screamed and caught the monster’s attention.

20 minutes.

I spent precious few minutes luring the Ujo back to the Stone Tortoise again. Another [Hateful Wound] caused me to fall to my knees. The Ujo actually had its beaks around my neck when L’teya grabbed the things’s head and shoved her fists into its eyes, blinding it.

26 minutes.

The Stone Tortoise died, its body fading into light. I dragged the half-dead L’teya and threw her to the Spirit Core that dropped. I had a feeling that the Goddess Oung’s Boon would be the core of these two monsters.

29 minutes.

I wanted to give up and contemplated whether I would return to the real world if I died. I told myself to stop being pathetic and dodged the dive bombing attacks by the Ujo.

30 minutes.

Another fucking [Hateful Wound]. But L’teya was healed up by Clover which was the good news. The bad news? Our only healer was now unconscious from mana exhaustion, while I lay on the floor bleeding out.

31 minutes.

Before L’teya could get to me, the Ujo landed and pinned me to the floor with its two legs. Then it reached down and ripped off my hand. It wasn’t my sword hand. I tried to slash it and made contact, but the creature was bleeding from so many wounds that I couldn’t even tell if I made another [Bleed] stack or not.

33 minutes.

I started crawling towards Clover with one hand. My legs weren’t working. L’teya was locked in single combat with the Ujo. She wasn’t as quick or nimble as I was; everytime the creature dive bombed her she took wounds. But L’teya must have been just as talented as Clover was; she used the Stone Tortoises’ core ability right away, creating rings of stone orbiting around her. It synergized with her [Death Worm] core, the stones were coated in poison.

35 minutes.

Holy shit, another [Hateful Wound]. I stopped trying to crawl with my hand, it was a mangled mess. I bit down on the ground and made my way towards Clover, using my teeth. I could only hope that L’teya was ok. If she fell, we were dead.

39 minutes.

I barely made any ground towards Clover. My tooth fell out somewhere along the way and I resorted to using my chin to keep crawling. If the Ujo bit off my legs would I be able to crawl faster since I had less weight?

Clover’s eyes stirred and when she opened them, they weren’t the mismatched pair of sheep and human eyes anymore. They were both sheep.

40 minutes.

The cooldown for [Hateful Wound] must have been over, because I heard the creature yell my name and feel my wounds start to widen. But Clover released a wave of mana that enveloped me and held back the blood. It let me stand up shakily and look for my sword. I saw L’teya latched on the creature’s back, hacking at its wings.

42 minutes.

I couldn’t find my sword, too much blood and noise. I just stumbled over to L’teya and Ujo, who were wrestling on the ground. I fell on its back and started to bite its neck. God, it was pathetic how every time I was backed into a corner I could do nothing but just bite like a toddler.

44 minutes.

Clover joined in, holding my sword in her hand.

Finally, the creature vomited a mixture of blood and poison. In its death throes it smacked L’teya and Clover with its wings, sending them flying. I clung on, stabbing my stump of a wrist into its beak for grip. I screamed with it.

The creature finally died… and just like I expected, dropped a Spirit Core.

I absorbed it before anyone else could.

We survived.

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“What happened here?” Kyrian Tricilan looked at the wreckage in the dungeon.

The floor was caved in, revealing a massive hole that led to a subterranean level. He peered inside but saw nothing. His inquisitive nature wanted to go down there and check out what was there, but there was a sinister edge to the mana lingering in this place. He stayed above and quickly turned away from the opening.

The large pillars were ominous, the torches on them creating strange shadows. It had been awhile since Kyrian entered a dungeon with a properly outfitted party. He felt a pang of regret at joining this expedition. The money was good and it funded his research as a mage; but he missed adventuring. To stay in the magic tower he needed money or academic results; both of which could be solved by hiring himself out to the Akka Xaluds expedition in the Samak Desert.

“Hurry, mage.” Abay Munet was walking ahead of him, walking down the hallways with large steps.

The man’s bird-like features were even more pronounced by the torches. His hook nose mimicking the silhouette of a bird’s beak in the shadows and his abnormally long arms with the cloak around them creating the illusion of wings. Kyrian imagined this man descending like a vulture among the slaves who were no doubt injured and tired.

“How fitting.” Kyrian followed, trying to look for the slaves first.

He’d hold true to ihs promise to the gods and-

Step

Step Step

Step

The mage froze and so did Abay Munet.

Three figures walked out of the darkness, coming into the torche’s light.

An unconscious woman with tanned skin and curly black hair was being carried. Her body was scarred all over, evidence of fresh healing. Her pointed ears identified her as an elf and even Kyrian could see why Abay desired her; years of training in whatever martial arts left her body toned. But right now, she was barely hanging on. Her breathing was ragged and thin.

Following behind the woman was a beastwoman with pink hair. Kyrian was unsettled by her pretty face, marred by the sheep-like visage that her horns and eyes created. One of her horns had been broken and only a stump remained on the top of her head. She walked behind the elf-woman and the man carrying her, holding two axes close to her chest.

The man carrying the elf-barbarian was in the worst shape by far. One of his hands was missing at the elbow and blood covered him. Kyrian couldn’t tell whether this was a human or an exceptionally well-made [Blood Golem]. But golems didn’t breathe and every time the man took an unsteady step, more blood leaked out of his mouth. His black hair was matted to his forehead, neck and head, tangled in open wounds that were starting to fester.

He was piggy backing the elf-woman with his stump arm. In the other, he held a jagged katana, a tool made to make his opponents suffer before they died.

All three of them had manacles around their necks, marking them as slaves of the Samak Horde.

“Move.” The man whispered. His voice came out as a rasp.

"Think rationally. They're just slaves. There's no way that what I'm sensing is real." Kyrian was a careful man by nature, his bastard upbringing had made sure of that. He reached out with his mana sense, trying to get a sense of the three in front of him.

Kyrian took a step back as something foreign and other worldly forcibly severed his connection. He wanted to try again, to check if it was a fluke but found himself stepping aside. It wasn’t just the man’s demeanor that made Kyrian hesitate.

It was the look in the man’s eyes… no, not the look of them, but the very air around the man.

The air of absolute Will, that nothing will get in his way. Complete trust in his own sense of self and the willingness to follow it through.

Just like the scions of the Great Houses. Just like the Akka Xaluds who were plotting to overtake this desert.

Abay stepped up, breaking the tension. “You-”

“Abay, no!” Kyrian yelled.

The man reacted instantly and his sword flashed, striking Abay Munet in the chest with a simple stab. Abay’s dagger had been an inch away from stabbing into the slaves eyes.

[Jackpot!]

One second, Abay's chest was whole and the next, there was a hole in it. Kyrian could see through the man's body, a corpse now. On the other side of the hole was the black-haired slave, staring at him with the same expression as before.

"Move." He repeated.

Kyrian stepped aside, looking at the ground.

He let the three of them go, or maybe it'd be more correct to say that they let him go.

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That night Kyrian reported to his superiors about the slaves he saw and their strength. How one of them killed Abay Munet with a single blow. It caused a stir in the camp. Abay Munet didn't have a great reputation but his strength wasn't to be ignored. A full-fledged adventurer losing not once, but twice to a slave?

News soon spread through the camp. These men had already been out in the Desolate Sands and parts of the Samak Bluffs, having captured slaves and slain their orc captors. But none of the slaves they had encountered or even an orc for that matter, had been at that level. Some men reacted with disbelief, believing that Kyrian must have been exaggerating. However enough people knew enough of Kyrian to believe the mage's words, that there must be a slave of extraordinary potential in the Samak Horde's city.

It got the higher-ups excited about what other secrets the slaves of the Samak Horde could be holding.

The stronger a slave, the higher they could set the price.

A spy from the Jayu States heard of this slave and sent out a message bird into the night air . The Jayu Colosseum would have to get their hands on these slaves before anyone else, lest they pay a premium. After all, a talented slave with a good story was always a welcome addition to their ever-growing collection of gladiators. Buying from the Samak Horde and the Turina Empire's slave traders were always a last resort: it was cheaper to get the slaves themselves.

A traveling orc merchant heard the news on the wind and saw that the direction of the future was changing. She smiled, knowing that the future was as malleable as the shifting sands on her beloved desert. It really didn't matter to her who bought the slaves; the Great Houses of the Turina Empire of the Jayu State. All she cared about was coin. She went on her way towards the Samak Horde, with her own stock of slaves.

They'd have to host the auction a little earlier than planned but all was according to plan.

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Name: Lock Slaveborn

Race: Human

Age: 24

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Level: 19

Stats

[Physical]: 12

Notable [Physical] Hidden-Stats: Handicraft, Sight, Hearing, Reflex, Proprioception, Flexibility, Hunger

[Mental]: 8 (7 + 1)

Notable [Mental] Hidden-Stats: Risk-Inclination, Willpower, Obsession, Bloodlust

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Spirit Cores Slots Available: 0

Spirit Cores

[ Lucky Beckoning Cat ] - Grade 8

[ Ujo ] - Grade 7 (Boss Class)

Skills

[Cut]

Achievements

[Sword Saint Candidate]

[Reflection of Divinity] (1/6)