Sam let out a tentative smile.

“First things first,” Jeffrey continued, “we need to get some levels into you. Losing your advantage that you currently have would be criminal. If I’m not mistaken, the first of the stronger enemies should be coming. You will get more levels from them.” Jeffrey took out his shotgun and checked it. It was already loaded from when Sam had it. Beckoning to Sam and Rax, he started to walk out the door.

“Oh, now that the cat’s out of the bag, I might as well join your party.”

“Why didn't you before?” Sam asked.

“Being in a party overrides any sort of identity concealment device. It would have told you who I really was.”

Sam added Jeffrey to the party and took a look at the display. He was very interested in what he would see.

Party:2

Torturna Salvinii-Brescon: Level 8. Health 180/180

Rax:Level 7. Health 150/150

Sam laughed.

“What kind of name is that? Torturna? It sounds like some sort of knock off pasta brand.”

Jeffrey grimaced.

“Look, I didn't make fun of your name. In my language, Sam is an acronym for a certain sensitive ailment that afflicts those who frequent establishments of ill repute.” Sam stared at him blankly. “Establishments that mainly operate at night.”

“What, you mean a bar? My name means cirrhosis in your language?”

Jeffrey sighed.

“Let’s just go with that.”

Sam was very confused by the roundabout way that Jeffrey had described what he was getting at, but he forgot about it as they sighted their first monster. This creature was far larger than the gremlins and it was quite disturbing. Two nubs of flesh were in the place of the creature’s eyes and the rest of its face was completely blank. It was shaped like a person, but it had three spider-like legs and when it reared up to hiss at them, it revealed that it had a gaping, fang lined orifice on the end of each of those legs. Sam gawked at the thing in horror. It was like something out of a nightmare. He sent off a quick analysis at it to see what he was dealing with.

Juvenile Chimera

Level 11

It was of a higher level than the members of the party, but his Dao skill would even the odds as well as his titles. He was already far ahead of the curve when it came to personal power. That was why he was high up on the power leaderboard, but not on the levels one. There had been another 990 names under the top ten, but he hadn't bothered checking it for his name. Most of the people on it were around level 10, which meant that the top people must have done something special to get there. He wanted to get access to whatever they were doing to grow so strong. With a start, he realized that if he hadn't killed Lena, she would have been near the top of the levels leaderboard. That realization disturbed him. What if the only way to get levels efficiently was to kill humans? He was surprisingly fine with killing now, before he would never have dreamed of it. Fighting for one’s life had strange effects on the human psyche. He would not stoop to the level of killing innocents though. He would only kill those who were truly evil or if there was no other choice.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

The chimera hissed at them as they approached it, although Sam could tell where the noise was coming from on the creature’s body. Because it lacked a mouth, the sound seemed to be created deep inside its body and sent out through its hand openings. It leaped forwards on its legs and landed in front of them. One went towards Sam, the other went towards Jeffrey and the third one was used to balance. This allowed Rax to flank the creature and he bit into its flesh, but did little damage on account of how tough its skin was.

Sam fended off the hand and used Eyes of Judgement on the creature. It glowed with a black miasma of sin and he felt a new strength course through his veins. Sam reached out and grabbed the hand of the chimera, pulling it towards him, The thing hissed again and abandoned its attack on Jeffrey, choosing instead to bite at Sam. He ignored the small wounds that the gnashing teeth caused and instead used his machete to sever the arm of the chimera.

It lurched backwards in shock and he closed in on it, bisecting the other arm. With blood spurting from its body, the chimera let out a horrific ululating cry. Thinking that this marked its defeat, Sam withdrew, but instead a noise started to grow in the distance. The sound of breaking wood and snapping branches started to approach them from the north. The chimera limped off to the side of the clearing where it expired from blood loss. Sam barely registered this, instead focused on what was coming from the woods. Jeffrey cowered beside him with his shotgun cradled affectionately.

The cracking noise reached a crescendo and a massive creature barreled through the trees and into the clearing. It had eight spider-like legs and a tiny fleshy body. Three massive tentacles extended from its gaping maw and dragged on the ground as if it was tasting it. Upon seeing the body of the chimera, it let out a rage filled roar and charged the party. Jeffrey squealed and ran to the side, only to be picked up by one of the questing tentacles. Sam rushed to the beast and tore at it with his machete, but its skin was incredibly tough. Jeffrey screamed as the monster dangled him over its mouth and it began to lower him slowly down into it. Sam checked his mana, and saw that he didn't have enough to use his skill again. This would just have to be him against the beast.

He had already allocated his stat points before they had left and he now had increased Strength and Resilience as a result. One of the tentacles blurred through the air and slammed into him, but he held on tightly and refused to let go. Like he was an annoying tick, the beast tried to dislodge him, but all that it did was split its attention enough for Jeffrey to gain the vantage for a perfect shot. Unloading the contents of his gun, he fired directly into one of the creature's eyes, bursting the watery orb and causing the monster to screech in pain.

Sam pushed off the tentacle and climbed up the body of the creature towards its head. It glared at him with its one remaining eye and opened its mouth. The sounds of churning liquid started up and Sam’s eyes widened. He ducked down, narrowly avoiding a spray of stomach contents. Sparing a glance behind him, the vomit had started melting the grass and trees. It was highly acidic and would have melted his flesh off of his bones if he didn't watch out.

He continued climbing the creature and he reached its head, dodging another flailing tentacle. Jeffrey seemed to have been abandoned in favor of him and he saw the bird man crawling along the ground into the trees. He redirected the force of the tentacle into propulsion for a mighty leap and he landed on the monster’s head. With a cry, he sunk his machete deep into its other eye. Still, it was not dead and he continued to stab at it. Anguished cries came from the creature as he completed his bloody work and it lashed out with its tentacles at him. One of them caught him on his leg and he felt a dull crack. Hopped up on adrenaline as he was, he barely felt it. His blade cut deeper and deeper into the flesh of the monster and eventually it hit something hard. Gritting his teeth in disgust, Sam reached his hand down into the pulped eye matter and stabbed directly into the creature’s brain. It swayed for a moment and then fell bodily to the ground.

He jumped off it, but landed on his broken leg. A bright flash of pain consumed him and he blacked out for a moment. When he came to, his leg was still sore but was not broken.

You have killed a Juvenile Chimera!

You have killed a Mature Chimera!

You have leveled up! (x3)