"Hector!" Felipe's shout still echoed in their ears.
Someone was about to die again.
Nearly forty Komodos yet remained, and even though a few had begun fighting amongst themselves for claims over the downed prey, the people remaining on their feet were still bleeding heavily and in major trouble.
Damon saw Sarah get another kill, but ended up overswinging, getting her arm dragged so hard she lost her balance, and then she was downed and getting ripped apart, lost among the dragons, getting eaten from every direction.
Abi was trying to pull her free, but did not weigh enough, and had already lost her pikeaxe earlier when it somehow got lodged in a lizard’s spine. The very sight infuriated Damon, and awoke a primal anger; lighting a spark, that did absolutely nothing. But he still refused to slow or bend, smashing down on the three reptiles attacking his legs and using another Mana burst to make his way over. The light-headedness was threatening to overwhelm him at any second, so he remained careful not to overtax his reserves too quickly, lest he pass out and risk all their deaths. But the strange state also allowed him to think while his body fought on mechanically, breaking down the wall of lizards one by one, reacting instinctively to this ancient threat slowly swallowing his companions before his very eyes.
What are we doing, struggling here, against a threat as basic as this. Didn’t we used to be so arrogant? What was it, only last week? Yet for good reason. It may have taken us time to rise to the top, but in the grand scheme of things? No time at all, we rose unconstrained. None other of Earth’s creatures has ever grown so superior.
Six more dragons got smashed by a Damon growing more delirious by the second.
No others in history have outworked their competitors so fully, none ever reached so far, dominated their peers the beasts so completely as my fellow man. Now, at the whim of some System, we are being eaten. Undeservedly, if such a thing exists. Then let Strength be what determines who dies, and whose family lives.
Visions of ancient man striving, surviving and thriving for a hundred thousand years flashed before his mind’s eye, before finally settling on a vision of himself as he stood now, surrounded by dragon corpses.
A sapling took root and rose.
[Dao Vein claimed – Strength: +25 Str.]
[Congratulations, Damon Bishop. ⅔.]
[One more, and I’ll actually be impressed.]
The burst of power was coursing through his veins within seconds of reading the scroll, but this time it was here to stay, and the enhancement was overwhelming. His already tremendous Strength nearly doubled, and Damon proceeded to shrug off the injuries he had been suffering thus far, including the venom making him light-headed.
He was not healed. But the pre-existing injuries were suddenly superficial, having failed to penetrate his physique—his every muscle now rippling and growing denser. Damon became a slayer of a level never before seen on Earth. He could have pummeled T-rexes with the level of strength unleashed in his form, but these komodos would suffice for now.
He grabbed one of the smaller dragons by the tail and threw it like a fastball, bowling the biggest, immediate threats over like pins. Then he leapt among them, throwing short, brutal punches, destroying viscera and brain matter in equal measure.
The level of violence was enough to put fear into even the slow twitch reptile brains of these remaining predators, and he nearly caused a rout—except for how one, much larger dragon stopped chewing and squared up, making it clear how they were coming for the top spot and would willingly die trying.
Damon did not think, at all, he just dunked his chest before charging like a maniac, neck deep into the primeval communication of animal domination, too far along to experience anything but sheer aggression. Damon howled like the ape that he was and proceeded to throw his whole body weight behind a tornado kick with far more momentum than he’d ever managed before. His enhanced shin blasted into the dragon’s jaw—popping the weaker bones like balloons, and showering its pack in the red liquids of defeat.
Dominance was reestablished—the few remaining individuals fled like rats, or skinks, and the injured humans fell to the floor as one in relief.
[Aspirant level collected: +4 Str, +1 Per +3 Mana.]
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
[Your Aspirant Class has reached Level 7.]
“That's right, you're the food!— We actually made it.” Damon was beyond weary, but the second Dao Vein he had claimed was enough to keep him going for now. He nodded to Ken, who was still barely standing, having held the line all this time, then went to check on the people who'd gone down during the battle, starting with Hector, after seeing Sarah already under the caring ministrations of Abi.
Damon fumbled at the man’s neck, expecting to feel nothing at all since the man had been lying still for over 5 minutes, and likely been bleeding for well over thirty; he was injured all over, and with no sign of the healing boon stepping in to save the poor man.
Felipe started to get up. “Will he be alright?”
That’s a strong pulse. Damon staunched the bleeding. ”I think so, Felipe. If he can make it a little longer, the healing should kick back in. I think it’s the venom, and your brother’s a big guy, these baby lizards aren’t gonna get him any time soon. He’ll be pissed you’re higher level though, look forward to that when he wakes,” He winked.
Somehow the man remained alive, and when Felipe managed to stagger over it was with tears of relief in his eyes, to hug the both of them.
They wrapped up everyone’s injuries, the bleeding somehow continuing—behaving a bit unnaturally, leaking far past when it should have already coagulated.
It was a close call, but after another thirty minutes everybody seemed to have fought off the venom enough that the System no longer considered them under active attack, and reactivated the boon.
It was a huge relief to have everyone under its magical protection again, but nobody forgot how the System was responsible for their close call in the first place. Yet somehow everyone made it out unscathed, in the end. They were finally ahead of the game; not a one among them having failed to gain a level this time around, more than half having come as far as level 3 by the end, and starting to finally see some very tangible advantages. The Perception stat appeared to not only increase the usefulness of their five senses, but also processing speed, even mental recovery. Strength clearly performed as expected, but also included speed and durability, and some also learned to tap into their new Mana energy during the fight, but were not quite aware of what they were doing yet, or how. Of course nobody had found a way to claim a real Class, nor any other Dao Veins so far either, yet there was still time remaining in the Shuffle. Everyone was slowly realizing how Damon was the outlier, not the norm, and even if they weren’t insane enough to suggest also getting operated on, everyone saw clearly how they needed to find other ways of staying ahead of the rest of humanity, first and foremost. No matter how many animal hordes the System spawned, their likeliest competitors would always remain other people.
The supposition that nobody else had claimed any Dao Veins was smashed merely an hour after Damon had the thought however, when a finally awake Tyler Evans was suddenly heard panicking downstairs, shouting for help from the garage for some reason.
Damon arrived at the scene with one last, hungry komodo remaining behind the pack, posting on the lower shelves and hissing at the top ones where Damon had stuffed Tyler in a hurry before he rushed off to help the others.
Damon brained it with zero fuzz, failing to see what the big deal was, yet still ended up being the one forced to deal with Tyler’s complaints.
“Really, man. Really, you couldn’t wake me?” Damon explained he could not, but it was no use, Tyler was ranting. “And even so, to not even take 10 more seconds to find a better spot, for your oldest friend?" Damon definitely had friends before meeting Tyler at age thirteen, good ones. "I have a bad back, you know this,” Damon did not, in fact, know that. “And now I’ve got a crick in it, the fuck did you have to lie me on the side for? Fuck’s sake’”
It was in the middle of that 10 minute rant, which went on and on about his history of pains and grievances, that Tyler casually dropped the fact of how he’d woken up from some weird boyhood dreams, with two System scrolls hovering, explaining how he'd just collected his first very first System Achievement, as well as his primary Dao Vein—of the Gear.
Just a Gear for now, yet he was clearly pleased with the result, exclaiming happily about the stat distribution, when Damon looked only reluctantly impressed.
[Dao Vein claimed – The Gear: +5 Str, +5 Per, +15 Mana.]
Typical mechanic.