As Levi entered the treasure room, a small glowing brown sphere caught his attention, shining like a beacon in the glittering light scattered from above.
Beast Stone (Power Stone, Basic) The aspect of Beast is contained within.
A power stone! Finally!
There was also a dungeon token, which he slipped into his pouch with its destruction counterpart, and a blank book for spellcasting of some sort. But the power stone held his attention. He stuffed the book into one of his backpack pockets along with the blank wand from the last dungeon, to trade or craft with later.
After what felt like the longest three days of his life without a proper weapon, he picked up the glowing power stone and slotted it into his shortsword. The brown gem immediately fused with the pommel as though they'd always been a single piece.
Beastly Shortsword (Manablade, Standard)
Abilities: (Basic) Beast Bite
Power stone: 1/1
Upgrade Slots: 0
He felt the familiar thrum of power in the hilt, energy running in jagged currents toward the carved patterns in the blade. He could activate it with the tiniest thread of mana and keep its effect active for as long as his mana held out.
Manablades and equivalent dungeon enhanced items would quickly become the only reliable weapons available. The high concentration of system energy within higher level demons or creatures made mundane projectiles and physical attacks all but useless.
It felt reassuringly right to have one in his hand again. Even if he wasn’t going to pursue the Swordsman class this time, he’d never stop loving the feel of a pair of manablades humming in his hands.
He pushed mana into the blade, activating the effect. He’d never actually powered a manablade with a Beast stone before and was curious to see what form it would take.
A snarling brown ghostly visage expanded from halfway down the blade, poised with jaws spread wide, ready to snap down on whatever the blade contacted. He couldn’t quite place the creature, its face was too wide to be wolf, too pointy to be bear. Perhaps nothing specific at all, just the tangible manifestation of “Beast.”
He had to try it out.
He left the treasure room and jogged over to the nearest tree, then drove the sword into its bark. Chips of wood flew as the blade impacted, then the jaw snapped shut and sent a veritable storm of wood chips flying in all directions.
When he pulled the sword back, the tree had a round chomp taken out of it, easily a foot in diameter.
Levi closed his eyes and sighed in satisfaction. “Yes, this will do very nicely.”
Deactivating the sword, he looked up toward the center of the dungeon where the spider skunk still lurked. He’d hoped the boss would be enough to push him to level 5 so he could capture that last remaining monster, but the days of easy levels were coming to an end. Even soloing them, level 1 dungeons would only give him so much experience.
He was used to fighting for months between levels, so it didn’t trouble him as much as it might have. He only hoped he could progress fast enough to stand at the forefront when the demon invasion began. But that was a concern for another day. Until then, he’d have to fight as hard as he could and seize every opportunity.
And right now, he had the opportunity to go chomp a spider skunk with his newly christened beast-aspect manablade.
Level 1
(Spider Skunk)
Health 100%
If not for the fact that they were sticky, stinky, and generally infuriating, spider skunks were the sort of creature a certain kind of person would go “aww” over and adopt into their house, while others would run away screaming at the very thought. Waist-high, with eight black and white striped fuzzy legs, and a face more closely resembling a mammal than the usual many-eyed spider face, they could have been cute.
But belying their fluffy, innocent appearance, they were vile and murderous things. Cunning and ruthless.
The first indication that he’d entered the first spider skunk’s territory was the web. It lay strung low to the ground, delicately twined between stalks of the wild grasses, and resisted breaking when he stepped on it.
“Guess it’s show time.” He unsheathed his shortsword. “It’ll be here soon. Find a position. And be careful of the webs!”
Gremlin Two saluted and scampered off, soon nothing but a rustle in the grasses.
Levi advanced, sword drawn but not activated. It would need a point of mana about every eight seconds to keep it active, and with his current limited pool, that would burn through his resources fast.
He couldn’t wait to try it out on a proper enemy. His manablades in the future had been Ice and Destruction powered, with custom mods and special abilities. Each power stone type had its own strengths and specialties, and he looked forward to seeing Beast’s first hand.
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He’d heard that Beast’s specialty was in pinning and bleeds, but there was something viscerally satisfying about feeling it for himself.
He kept an eye on the ground for more webs as he crept up on the spider skunk. It pranced about in short hops and dashes, playing with webbing in its front legs as it strung more between patches of bushes.
The center of its lair was fully matted with the stuff, and it exuded a vile stench that made Levi gag. He hastily pulled his shirt up over his nose and mouth to provide a rough filter. He'd rather smell his grungy, sweaty body than spider skunk essence any day.
There was no way in without touching at least one of the webs. Levi examined them carefully, checking to see which strands were sturdy and which were sticky. He carried a pair of leftover spears from their traps for the turkey boss and used one of these to snap one of the sticky webs.
The spider skunk immediately stopped and spun around. Levi froze, spear extended in one hand, manablade ready in the other. With a hiss of disapproval, the spider skunk rushed him.
Levi danced away, careful to step between the strands of web radiating out from the central lair, then broke into a run.
He still had several traps left, after all. Might as well see if he could kill two monsters with one strategy.
The spider skunk displayed much greater nimbleness than the dire turkey. It lightly jumped atop the spikes, running across them as though they were part of the terrain, not even slowing.
Well, worth a try.
Levi stopped, spun, set his spear, and readied his sword. The spider skunk didn't spring, wary of the pointed object aimed at its body, instead electing to circle Levi in a sideways skitter, laying down web behind it as it moved.
“You want to dance? I'm game.” Levi dropped the spear, switched to gripping the sword with two hands, and rushed in. The shortsword wasn't built for two-handed use, but he didn't mind the pommel's awkward shape. He sprang forward with a stamina-empowered leap, blade extended. Mana flowed out into the weapon as its ghostly beast visage manifested, hungry and ready.
The spider skunk skittered to the side, throwing a strand of web across Levi's path.
“Hah. Gotcha.” He snatched the thread, wrapping it around his hand, and yanked hard.
The spider skunk hadn't released it yet, and the motion tugged one of its legs off balance. It adapted easily with its other limbs, though, and didn't fall.
But Levi's aim wasn't to trip it up. He'd used it to redirect his momentum.
The blade bit into the spider skunk's side an instant before Levi slammed into it bodily, the sticky thread still wrapped around one hand as he grabbed hold of its silky white furry side.
Level 1
(Spider Skunk)
Health 72%
The shortsword's beast-aspect clung tight, its teeth gripping the monster's side like a bear trap for as long as he could keep the mana going. Levi could release it on demand, but right now he wanted the stable anchor the Beast Bite provided.
Level 1
(Spider Skunk)
Health 69%
After the boss’s excessively protracted fight, it felt surprisingly satisfying to watch a monster’s health steadily drain at a decent rate.
Level 1
(Spider Skunk)
Health 66%
The spider skunk hissed again, then took a page out of Levi's play book and tugged hard on the strand of sticky web still connecting them. Levi's grip on its side slipped as his hand was dragged down, straining his shoulders as he was stretched tight. He refused to release his sword, continuing to channel mana into it stubbornly.
Level 1
(Spider Skunk)
Health 60%
Within fifteen seconds, the spider skunk would be dead anyway. But a lot could happen in fifteen seconds.
Gremlin Two came panting out of the grass and swung his dagger at the spider skunk's legs.
The unexpected attack bought Levi the time he needed. The spider skunk let the line slacken just enough for Levi to get a hold on its side again. He released the blade, grunting as his weight swung from one hand to the other, coming up short with a painful wrench.
Levi swung the sword down, and it parted the line binding him with the familiar ease of an empowered weapon. Such a simple ability, yet so satisfying after days without it.
The spider skunk spewed forth a cloud of toxic gasses as its health continued to plummet, faster now as Levi slammed the sword in for another vicious chomp.
Level 1
(Spider Skunk)
Health 22%
Despite the monster’s best efforts to fight back, between Levi's newly empowered blade and Gremlin Two's distracting strikes, the monster might as well have offered no opposition at all.
The spider skunk slumped to the ground, dead without having done more than superficial damage to either of Levi or the gremlin.
Levi sheathed his shortsword, feeling better than he had in a long time.
Finally, things were going the way they should.
“One more treasure pile to check out, then we'll be moving on again.”
Gremlin Two whimpered, looking at his pointy-fingered hands with distaste, as though contemplating how long it would take to clean the dirt from under his long, sharp claws.
“Don't worry, it'll be by car for the most part. I won't need you to impersonate a cat again for a few hours at least.”
Gremlin Two eyed the backpack with similar distaste.
“I know you'd rather walk proudly at my side, and one day you can, but right now we’ve got to lean into the illusion that you’re something more normal.”
The mana distortions would conceal his monstrous nature to some extent, but it was still better to be careful. Even if people thought the gremlin was a child, cat, dog, or whatever else, if his behavior contradicted their conception too much it could attract unwanted attention.
Gremlin Two sighed, but nodded acquiescence.
“Good. Now let's go grab our loot and get out of here.”
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