Tens of minutes later, Seth had whittled the tail all the way down to its base. As he neared the end, he had begun to portion out each segment, as the tail had become too wide to cut straight through before the beast’s regeneration kicked into gear.

Throughout the entire time he had been excavating the monster, Rulik had continued to drone on with taunting encouragement.

“Yes, yes. Take it as slow as you need too fiend.”

“I already told you, torture is nothing to me.”

“Keep going, why stop at my tail?”

The fits of growls and moans were incessant. It was almost enough to replace the old storm of whispers that used to rack his brain. But to Rulik’s dismay, after Seth finished up with the tail, he made his way back over to the monster’s head.

“I’ve still got plenty of space in my cache. Perhaps I can take a few of your claws or maybe even your balls?” Seth claimed with an impish grin.

Rulik closed his two sets of eyes in a gesture of relaxation.

“Do what you must, but I do not have such reproductive organs, as I have no need for them.”

Seth’s smile did not falter at the beast’s proclamation, and he gladly moved to the nearest claw and began tearing it apart.

This process repeated over and over. Seth would enact minor surgery on the hulking beast, pause to taunt the ancient monster, then start up on another limb. Time passed, and Seth started to improve his method of chopping through the tough hide. Hours rolled by, and eventually there was nothing left to chop off. At one point, Seth had even stepped directly on Rulik’s face to saw through the various horns that protruded from his head.

Marching back up the head once again, Seth inwardly laughed at the state the creature was in. At this point, the monarch had been reduced to a rotting bean shaped mound of smelly flesh.

“I think I finally get the joke now! A cow with no legs is ground beef because its just a sack of meat lying in the dirt!” He cackled.

“Is that meant to offend me?” Rulik moaned sluggishly. It seemed that removing almost half of his body had rendered the beast somewhat disoriented.

“Nope, but this is.” Seth stated as he plunged his hand into his cache.

Two items were removed, and Seth held one of them above his head while the other was placed in his mouth.

“Did you see that chat?!” He called out with a falsetto tone.

“Rulik, Disciple of Slobber, oops, I mean Slaughter, has been turned into nothing more than a lump of shit!”

Seth turned to look at the recording crystal that sat atop his palm. “He even smells like it!”

A hacking gasp sounded off from behind Seth, confirming that he now had the monster’s attention.

“Is that a-”

“Video cache? Yes sir!” He finished for the now worried monster.

“Best one money could buy! And man, let me just say I cannot wait to see how good this footage is going to look on all the big screens in Ethin!” Seth gushed.

Before the monster could react further, Seth opened his mouth wide and stuck out his tongue at the camera. Hanging from his maw was a small strip of blackish meat.

“And nowb, is time for za taste tezt!”

Seth made sure to chew loudly and with an open mouth, for both the camera and Rulik, who was too busy gaping in horror to react.

“Oh man, that was rancid!” He groaned shortly after swallowing the raw flesh. “It looks like he tastes like shit as well, folks!”

Seth made sure to theatrically retch and sputter directly toward the video cache. After he was done with that, he brought the device closer to Rulik, pointing the recording side of the crystal right into the creature’s face.

“Let’s switch over to our guest for a moment. Do you have anything you would like to add to this broadcast?” He said in a deep, news anchor tone.

Rulik began stuttering over words, then let out another pus filled hack.

“You- you don’t know what you’re doing here fiend. Attempt to show anyone this footage and you will face consequences that will surely le-lead to your death!” The monster claimed with an obvious air of desperation.

Clearly, the young shaper was not deterred by his weak threat, as his grin only grew wider. Rulik noticed this and continued on with an attempted mask of danger.

“My comrades will not let this stand. Delete that footage now and save yourself from a long, slow death! The Forty-Two Disciples have slaughtered hundreds of millions, you will not be able to escape their wrath!” He rasped.

Even with the extensive threats, Seth’s face did not even twitch. The news about his organizations supposed ‘hundreds of millions’ of victims was slightly wild, but he never planned on releasing the footage anyway, so the threat fell on deaf ears.

“Wow, you a truly such a disappointment. A tier eight like yourself falling back on such lame tactics is so unbecoming.” He said while turning the video cache back toward himself.

“I suppose that’s it folks! Tune in next week for our cooking episode where I show you all how to turn this: ” He pulled out another piece of the rotten meat. “Into a gourmet meal!”

********

As the light of the recording crystal faded away, so too did Seth’s grin.

Without a word, he navigated to his Notifications tab and scrolled to the most recent ones.

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-Warning! You have consumed an object containing the tier nine Curse of Blight, and transcendent tier Curse of Null.

-Curse of Blight does not take effect due to Black Blood!

-Curse of Null does not take effect due to Black Blood!

With an inward sigh of relief, Seth closed one of the screens. He had gotten a little ahead of himself during the performance, letting out a side of himself that was surprisingly unfamiliar. His actions could have very well cost him his life, but luckily his immunity to curses had come in clutch. He tabled the topic inside his mind and turned back to the task at hand.

Pocketing the video cache, he crouched down next to Rulik.

“The moment I get out of The Incubator, that video will spread as far as I like. Anything you have been withholding better come out in the next five minutes or I am leaving you as is, sealing off the entrance, and sending the recording to all of your old friends.” He deadpanned; every flicker of humor gone from his face.

He turned the screen in front of him so it would face Rulik. “Any chance you have left of killing me or exacting revenge is gone. I am immune to the curses that riddle you. Your centuries of waiting will either end with me or continue until your body finally dies off itself.”

Seth watched as any spark of defiance the rotting beast had was completely extinguished after checking the hovering screen. Rulik’s pus filled eyes closed entirely, and a hopeless and defeated sigh hissed from his phlegm filled throat.

“Fine… You win.” The diseased mound muttered with no hint of life. Shortly after, a few new screens appeared before Seth.

-Congratulations! The shaper known as Rulik has surrendered to your mighty will!

-Rulik has surrendered all items in his cache.

-Rulik has surrendered a variety of Map entries.

-Rulik is now incapable of harming you!

-Congratulations! You have received the Title of “Born of Misery” due to torturing another shaper into submission!

-Congratulations! Your Title: “Little David,” has evolved into “Goliath Hunter” due to your physical and mental victory over a substantially more powerful foe!

Seth’s face couldn’t help but twitch with surprise as he read the new notifications. But before he could investigate further, the beast under him interrupted his thoughts.

“There. I, Rulik, disgraced member of the Forty-Two Disciples, leave my life and existence in the hands of the shaper before me.”

At his statement, Seth could almost physically feel a sort of lock falling into place between himself and the dying monster.

“I have little on person due to the regulations of the organization in charge of this event, but I have a personal trove of valuables at the location I sent to you. I’m sure you will find the items more than to your liking.” Rulik’s rasping had become more of a whine now, and pus-filled tears leaked profusely from the beast’s four eyes.

“I have now given you all I have to offer, my treasure, my reputation, and my meager life. Please… kill me now and end this misery.” The monster practically sobbed.

Almost as if his body was being moved on its own, Seth stomped over to the beast’s neck. The short blade on his wrist formed momentarily, and with it, he plunged his entire arm up to his elbow directly into the rotting flesh of Rulik’s throat.

“Let your sins consume you.”

Most of the energy coursing through Seth was drained into his submerged wrist, and with it, a huge black tumor began to grow inside the beast’s body. He didn’t stop there though, and Seth quickly absorbed one of his higher classed recovery crystals to replenish his energy stores. Then, once again, he cast Black Mass.

Seth had to recast his ability two more times before he finally felt the monster die. And only after the entire body had been consumed by Black Mass did his thoughts surface back into reality.

I don’t know what that was all about to be honest. He admitted to himself.

It seemed the end of his encounter with Rulik had resulted in a variety of functions that Seth had no clue were even a thing. The monster had somehow surrendered to him, but even weirder than that, the notifications had labeled him as a shaper.

“I guess it’s not impossible that he could’ve been one.” Seth mused.

He hadn’t thought of the idea of shapers becoming monsters, or monsters becoming shapers, but he supposed the idea wasn’t something that seemed that out of the ordinary of things to expect in light of the Foundation.

What was more interesting to Seth though was the things that came after his discovery.

Looking back to the notification screen that he had not closed before finishing Rulik, Seth began inspecting the new entries, including the ones that had just shown up after taking care of the monster’s body.

-Black Mass has automatically triggered Plunder.

-The shaper’s cache has already been claimed, Plunder will only work on the remains of the shaper.

-You have successfully used Plunder, all items have been transferred to the user’s cache.

The news about his successful looting were welcome, but Seth was more interested in the titles he had received from the experience. Closing the Notifications tab, Seth was awash in silver light as his titles took effect. Not even waiting for them to finish, he quickly opened up his menu again and went to the Status tab to read the new descriptions.

Level: Tier Four (Progress: Early)

Intellect: Class F

Constitution: Class F

Might: Class F

Intuition: Class F

Resolve: Class C

Race: Fiend (Class D)

Titles: Goliath Hunter, Absurd Specimen, Descendant of Crona, Born of Misery, *Undecided*

“Wait wha-?”

Before he could finish his sentence or check his titles, a new storm of energy began entering his body. It seemed that dealing with Rulik had pushed him into the realm of tier four, despite Seth not having done much.

He squeezed his eyes shut as the tempest of energy continued to pick up, causing more and more to push its way into his cells. Seth couldn’t help but groan with effort as he attempted to stay on his feet throughout the process. It almost felt like he was at the center of a whirlpool, as if all the energy in the spot around Seth had been abruptly stolen, causing the surrounding waves of power to collapse in on his location.

Finally, after a few more seconds of absorption, his cells seemed sated, and the energy ceased entering his body. But even with the new absence, Seth felt like he was practically humming with power. Instinctively, he called upon the node above his collar bone, and the Concept of Resonance spread through his spirit, calming the new energy as well as allowing Seth to tune his body to the new reach of power at his fingertips.

He stayed in this state of meditation for multiple minutes, as he did not want any of the feeling to go to waste. Then, when his body felt normal again, Seth opened his eyes.

Man, this concept is already coming in handy. He thought to himself with satisfaction.

His concept moon had allowed him to balance his new attributes as well as the larger pool of energy that he now had access to almost instantaneously. Once again, Seth wished he could spend more time cultivating, as he could feel that the use of his concept was an avenue he had barely scratched the surface of.

One step at a time. Remember, this was supposed to be the easy part. He reminded himself.

With his attention now back in the present, Seth finally checked his newest titles.

Born of Misery:

- Your actions have declared you a true fiend that has no empathy for his enemies. Others will be able to divine this ruthlessness upon inspection.

(Only achievable with one of the following prerequisites: Race: Fiend)

Goliath Hunter:

- Tier disparity does not affect your ability to overcome an opponent.

(Only achievable with one of the following prerequisites: Title: Little David)

Overall, it seemed his titles were worth no more than cosmetics in a video game. They provided no material benefits as far as Seth could tell, and weirder still, the new Goliath Hunter title had the exact same description that Little David did.

Although the gains were a little lackluster on the surface, Seth held out hope that they would provide some worthwhile effects in the future. After all, he knew that titles themselves were supposed to be pretty important in some aspect, so his hopes weren’t quashed.

Changing to a more excited note, Seth rubbed his hands together with a grin as he opened up his cache.

It was time to see what kind of loot a tier eight monarch had on him.