About a minute later, he could hear the sound of fighting behind him, and he found a good vantage point in a tree to wait. He could see flashes of the fight through the trees, and it seemed that his friends were handily dealing with the monsters that came. There were about three of the smaller spider monkeys, and one of the armed ones, nothing too threatening for the full party. Still, the big one was a bit highly leveled for them, but Sam had faith.
A few minutes later, the fight was over, and Sam cautiously made his way down the tree to check if anyone needed help. As he edged over through the trees, he saw that everyone was fine, save for a few small wounds. Nodding in satisfaction, Sam withdrew once more. It took a few more hours for the party to gain the last few levels, but it sped up in the end as the corpses of the monster attracted others in greater frequency. By the time that they had reached the max level however, they were swamped.
“Sam!’ Claude shouted. “We need help!”
As Sam heard this, he started running towards the voice. He fielded his aura to the maximum, and as soon as he got within fifty feet of the monsters, they started running. No longer was he just a human interloper into their territory. He was a predator.
Sam skidded to a halt among the many monster corpses in the area, and took in his companions. They looked the same, but they projected a new aura of danger, one that hadn't been there before. All of them glowed faintly with the energy of a burgeoning Dao, even Rax. Sam was curious as to how the herpetopede was going to manifest a Dao, as he had been told that monsters did so differently. As for the others, Sam could use his Dao Pedagogy skill on them to speed the process up.
However, Sam wanted to get them to somewhere safe. Not that there was anywhere truly safe within these woods, of course, but Sam on his own was almost as good as a fortress, and if he was able to find somewhere defensible, then they would be able to fully reap the rewards of their levels.
“Congratulations on making it,” Sam said as he approached the group.”You have all done something incredible. The faction will be greatly strengthened by your success.” Sam grinned. “Now, how about we get you all even more strength?”
As expected, nobody protested, and they quickly found themselves a secluded area. A large tree trunk, which looked to be long dead, was located in the middle of a clearing, and there was a small hole at its base. Sam blasted his aura into the tree, but there was nothing there. As Sam pointed at the tree, the others quickly realized what he was trying to tell them to do. Sam did not know for certain, but he had some suspicions about what using his Dao Pedagogy skill here would do. If there were any nearby monsters, it would rile them up, as the energy spread out across the land. The reach of it would be minimal, but all that it would take would be a single taste of the power to act as a beacon for monsters. Even worse, as Sam was using his skill, he would not be able to use his aura, as the two powers were intrinsically tied together. He would have to take care of the monsters as well as catalyze the growth of his friends.
“Damn, no pressure then,” Sam thought as he started the process. His aura spread out and into the tree trunk, enveloping the others in its energy. He could sense three specks of Dao energy, and something strange. The fourth source of energy was a dissipated cloud of Dao related power, which seemed to have spread all across Rax’s body. In a normal person, Sam would have said that it was broken beyond repair, but it somehow seemed to suit the herpetopede well. The only answer was what Rax had already said multiple times, which was that monsters developed their power differently. Perhaps Sam’s skill would work, and perhaps it would not. Either way, the only way to make sure was to try. Rax was long overdue for an upgrade past his teeth and claws anyway.
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Sam closed his eyes, and began. His consciousness split into four parts, each one going to one of the Daos. The one that separated and traveled towards Rax started to convulse in the air, and began to warp into a strange new form, keyed into the unique pattern of the monster’s Dao. Sam could not focus solely on that one however, and his mental energy and willpower was being taxed to its limit from doing all four at once. It might have been wiser for Sam to have done them one at a time, but the possibility had not crossed his mind. Instead, he would need to suffer through this pain. In any case, it would help train his skill.
The tendrils of willpower struck home a moment later, stabilizing and compressing the Dao energy within the four fighters. Rax’s contracted to a single point, and then expanded outwards and into his entire body, glowing brightly with power. As Sam worked on the others, something struck his right arm heavily. Reflexively, Sam lashed out with his hammer, and felt a warm wash of monster blood slosh off of his armor. The enemies were already here. Sam’s arm moved like a machine as he focused on his task, and as the Daos grew closer to completion, his focus was strained more and more. Soon it felt as if he was being torn apart, but Sam pushed past the mental pain, and started to draw upon his Mantra. The icy light of his compressed will to live shone brightly within his core, and Sam seized the power lurking within him, pushing his will into the final moments of his skill. As the dots of energy within Sam’s allies glowed with a blinding light, he let go.
Sam's eyes opened to behold a hellscape of shattered bodies and blood. He had barely registered anything that had happened during his time spent using his skill, but it had been quite the display. More than a dozen monsters lay on the ground, an even mix of spider monkey types. Behind him, the others slowly made their way out of the tree, each with a massive smile on their faces, and with a palpable energy surrounding them. Rax however had changed in a more profound way. The herpetopede was even larger than before, as tall as Sam and twice as long. His entire body was covered in jagged spikes, and a thick plate of bony armor covered him. His tail was now many times its previous length, and over three times its width. On the end, a small bony protrusion extended, also covered in spikes. The monster looked like a small dinosaur now, and he was clearly no longer a pet, not that he had been much of one before. He was a force of nature, and a powerful being in his own right now.
Each of the fighters had connected to a different Dao, with Claude having one that produced a sense of secrecy, Ava and Jane with martial Daos, both attuned to some form of the concept of discipline, and Rax with an attunement to a Dao related to the concept of momentum. Sam, and the others, were unable to take their eyes off of Rax, who was preening beneath the attention. He looked completely different now, even though his basic body shape was the same as before. The many legs were a bit strange on his bulky reptilian form, but Sam was sure that it would work regardless.
“Well, Rax certainly had it good from that,” Ava said a moment later, raising an eyebrow.” We might have all awakened our Daos, but Rax went through an entire evolution.”
"Is that what you were talking about when you said that monsters upgraded their Daos through a different way?” Sam asked the herpetopede.
"Yes,” Rax began, his voice much deeper than before.” We spread our mastery throughout our body, rather than using it as a slaved energy core to draw power off of. It makes it so that our powers are weaker, but our bodies become much stronger as a result. A monster has a far greater capacity for bodily manipulation than a sapient, and we take as much advantage as that as we can.”
"Well, are you interested in testing it out?” Sam asked, grinning.
“Hell yeah! I feel like I could level a small village with this power. Why don’t we find one of those monkeys that were giving us such trouble earlier?”