Out in the Ocean
Out at sea, a large vessel sails, for what reason or purpose, who knows.
“Captain! There be land in sight of the ship!”
A being at the highest point of the ship yells out to whoever this captain could be about an island that has come within sight of them. A being appears from the Captain’s Cabin and begins to look out into the distance to where an island is beginning to form. That being then begins to speak to the crew of the ship.
“Hmmph, make haste for that island, it does not appear on any of the maps, so it must be an undiscovered island. You all know what that means boys. We’re about to explore unknown territory!
Altogether the crew of the ship begin to cheer in excitement for it has been a while since any race has discovered any new land bodies out at sea in the last decade within 50 miles of the mainlands due to the inefficient level of seafaring technology to allow them to make ships that could comfortably sail for longer periods of time that would allow them to sail further. The very ship these beings were on was one of the most advanced of any of the ships built to this point and allowed to to sail at least 200 miles from the mainland before they had to return for supplies. The island they believe to be undiscovered was a mere 195 miles away from their mainland.
Back to David
As we marched for the cave of corruption, Mira reminded me that evolving the wolves had given me once again, enough experience to level up. So in turn i leveled my self up and awaited for the comforting feel of my body getting stronger once more. It was almost like a drug to me now, constantly wanting to level even further in order to feel that rush that it gave.
Status WindowName:DavidAlignment:noneLevel:18Class:Monster TamerRace:HumanGender:MaleTitlesnoneFame:0Infamy:0-Health:2500 / 2500Health Regen:0.95 / SecMana:3200 / 3200Mana Regen:0.75 / SecStamina:190 / 190Stamina Regen:0.15 / Sec-Strength:25Agility:25Vitality:25Intelligence:22Wisdom:15Endurance:20Luck:15-Attack:42Defense:62Physical ResistancesSlashing:22Piercing:22Crushing:22Elemental ResistancesFire:5Water:5Wind:5Earth:5Light:5Darkness:5
I had leveled up three more levels which gave me fifteen free stat points, in which i placed five into agility, five to vitality, three into strength and two into intelligence.
As we were making our way to the cave, nothing stood in our way. If any of the packs of corrupted came near us to attack, they would be slaughtered by us before they were able to counter. Any monsters not corrupted were smart enough not to get in our way as we made our way to our destination. It was late into the night when we had finally made it to the cave. All around it were corrupt versions of many of the monsters we had seen with quite a few of them being larger than the average of their species. It seemed whatever was causing all this was keeping the stronger monsters for itself, this was going to be exciting.
There were quite a few variant types among the cave’s guardians. There were at least ten c. Jungle vine wolves mixed in with the fifty-ish c. jungle wolves. There were even larger versions of the jungle spiders known as the Guardian types for Jungle spider nest. They were basically the same as the standard jungle spider, only instead of being the size of a hand, they were about the size of a dog, fan-fucking-tastic. There were at least twenty of them with another thirty c. jungle spiders moving around. Over with the vipers, there were the Poisonous Vipers. This variation of the vine viper was capable of shooting out a poisonous substance that would inflict damage over time if it touches skin. Good thing we have armor to block that. The physical feature that made it easier to spot from the rest as they had hoods around their heads that made them look like cobras, making it easy to spot ten of them. With them were around forty C. Vine Vipers. There weren’t any variants of the boars that i could see, just C. Earth boars, which were not very abundant, there were maybe twenty of them guarding the cave entrance.
As we got near the cave entrance to where most of the guards were, i prepared the weapons that i had made from my new skills. I had managed to figure out that i could mentally command my horn to snap off my head and then regrow itself for a small amount of mana. After a few hours of that, i had managed to create spears and daggers using my horns, vines, and some thick branches.
Makeshift Ruby SpearType:SpearDurability:50 / 50Quality:CommonWhen they say use your head, they didn’t mean like this ya know.
Makeshift Ruby DaggerType:DaggerDurability:50 / 50Quality:CommonA dagger that can cut through thick skin or armor. Made from the horn of some guy who was bored and had too much time on his hands.
I had 5 of each for myself as well as for everyone else who could hold a weapon. Our plan was simple. Ruby opens fire on the c. poison vipers with her Ruby Stream ability, which could now fire at multiple targets at once, with each separate stream causing the attack to become slightly weaker than if there was one less stream being shot. But even when separated into around five streams which was her current max, they were still capable of instantly killing any monster that we had encountered up till now. While that happens, me and the Nox Kobolds will charge right from the left and sweep through them until we take down all the outer guards with Ruby providing covering fire once she has taken out the c. poison vipers since they were the most likely to be able to cause us damage because of their poison. By killing all the corrupted guarding the outside of the cave, we would remove the risk of being attacked from both sides while we go into the cave.
We got into position, Ruby staying in a tall tree in front of the cave, giving her vision over all the C. Monsters, while the kobolds and I made our way over to the left of the cave, hiding ourselves behind the trees and bushes. Thanks to our ability Swift Silence, we were able to get within a few feet of the cave’s guards. Once we charged in, Ruby would fire her lasers on the C. Poison Vipers until they are eliminated and then begin working on any C. Monster that comes and tries to flank us. The pack and I will charge right through the guards, killing everything in our way until every last one of them are dead.
The moment i charge in, the rest will follow with me and Ruby would begin firing. I checked to see if everyone was ready over the mental link Mira had created so i could communicate with everyone instantly. Everyone knew their part and were ready, so i began to bend my legs, prepared to jump right out of the bushes and strike at the C. Jungle Vine Wolf that was right in front of me. I activated Hunter’s Vision, allowing me to see where the wolves vitals were, and equipped Hardened Leaf Armour which now covered most of my body as well as Ruby Horn which caused me to grow my ruby horn and claws.
I was ready to strike, and so was everyone else. On the count of three, we would begin out attack.
“1……...….2………..……....3!”
I activated headbutt and charged right at the C. Jungle Vine wolf and slammed my horn right into its skull instantly killing it, and then quickly throwing it into another C. Jungle Vine Wolf, and then grabbing a C. Jungle Wolf and bringing my dagger down on it, severing its spine that connected its skull to its body also killing it instantly. Before any had noticed what happened, 5 red beams had shot through the trees, taking down 5 C. Poison Vipers, as well as another group of C. Jungle wolves, C. Jungle Vine Wolves, and C. Earth Boars were left as chunks of meat after the Nox Kobolds had quickly run past them while quickly slicing at their vitals. Immediately before they understood what was going on, we continued our slaughter. Left and right, purple blood was flying as C. Wolves , C. Boars, C. Spiders and C. Vipers were all cut down. When a couple who recover from the surprise and start countering, they were shot by Ruby, killing them in an instant. It didn't take long for the others to realize what was going on and begin defending the cave as were supposed to.
Left and right, heads were flying, limbs severed from their bodies. Nothing was giving us any trouble, our armor stopped any of their attacks from causing any actual damage, and we moved to quickly for then to react. We would be slaughtering one group and then before the next could react or come up with proper counter, they were already getting their heads removed either by a Nox Kobold tearing their heads off with their bare fist, or being sliced off by a dagger or spear. For the C. Vine Vipers and C. Jungle Spiders, they were easy to simply skewer onto a spear. Heart, spine, jugular, carotid, back and forth my mind told me what to aim for in my targets that were mammals, for the Vipers, my mind raced to aiming for either stabbing them through the brain or removing the head, and for the Jungle Spiders i aimed to pierce them where their abdomen connects to their head. One by one each and every one was slaughtered, giving us no challenge. There were C. Guardian type Jungle Spiders that charged at us alongside C. Earth Boars, using their large size to try and trample us which would fail miserably Due to Draven using his Vines to wrap of their legs, causing them to trip on themselves and making them easy targets to kill while they were trying to get back up.
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It took around four hours before every last C. monster was dealt with. After around half of the Corrupted were killed, more came from within the cave that were slightly stronger than the others, but still caused no problems for us. In all, we had killed roughly more than two hundred C. monsters with just the seven of us. We were dead tired after all that fighting. At first the C. monsters were very easy to handle, but after hours of constant fighting, out stamina began to deplete, causing us to stumble and make mistakes, causing some of the C. monsters to land a couple lucky hits. All my clothes were torn to shreds, i had cuts and bruises all over my body, and every muscle was burning. The kobolds were doing a bit better, just a few cuts, the occasional gash from lucky hits from the guards. Ruby had mostly stayed in the trees killing from afar, but near the end had joined in the melee and had a couple cuts here and there where her rock armor didn’t provide protection. We took a short break after clearing them all out, giving me time to check on my stats since i was pretty sure this attack should have given me quite the boost.
“Level Status”
9 level Ups achieved
45 free stat points available
“Great. Put ten into vitality and wisdom, eight into intelligence and endurance, five into agility, and four into strength. Confirm stat placement.”
Placement Confirmed
“Got a minute David?”
“Yeah, whats up?”
“It’s about the cave. Now that we’re closer, i’ve been detecting strange reading from it. Almost like it's something similar to myself. I wanted to bring this up to you because i feel that you should leave Ruby and the others here just in case whatever is in there tries to corrupt them like it did to these monsters. If my theory is correct, there should be a failed experimental device created by the Gods within this cave.”
“Ok, but first, what the hell is a failed experimental device by the Gods, and why the hell are one of them just sitting in a cave?”
“That’s the thing. All experimental devices, failures and successes, were supposed to be placed in secure locations for you to find and make use of them however you like. From my readings, something must have happened that activated its defense mechanisms which caused all the monsters in the nearby area to turn into what we saw. If you could get close enough to the device and allow me to gain access to it, i could potentially use it to upgrade myself and thereby upgrade you as well.”
“What kind of upgrade we talking here?
“I’m still not to sure which device it is, but based on the defense mechanism being used, i'm guessing it's a cerebral type upgrade, anything more specific about what it will do is beyond me. I can only detect when you get near an upgrade.
“Well if it could potentially give me a free upgrade, i’l take it. Thanks for the heads up Mira.”
“My pleasure.”
After waiting another hour for the gang to heal up a bit more, i tell them about how Mira had warned me about bringing the rest of them with me into the cave. Surprisingly, the one to be the most against this was Rogue.
“Master, i can not allow this to happen. What should happen if there is another group of those foul creatures within. How are we to protect you with our lives if you are to continue on your own in there.
“Rogue! Know your place, what the Master says is final. If he is to continue on his own, then that is what will happen.
“What about the chance of being corrupted as well Rogue. If you or any of us were to become one of them, how would Master feel then. He would have to put down whoever is infected, do you want him to feel that pain?”
Rogue began to think of these possibilities, causing her face to have a conflicted look to it.
“Look, everything will be fine. If i see anything dangerous down there, i’ll come running back up so you guys can help, alright?”
Everyone nodded their head, even Rogue grudgingly. With that done, i begin making my way into the cave. It was now that i learned that Mira’s crystal had another little nifty feature, a flashlight! I made my way further into the cave, step by step into the dark and murky cave, with the magnified echoes of water drops hitting the rocky floor. The further down i went, the more i felt like something was clouding my mind. It got to the point that my vision was beginning to get blurrier than it already was due to my glasses breaking at some point during my new adventure. I kept moving down the cave, bearing with the strange feeling that was coming over me. It got to the point that Mira had begun detecting abnormalities within me.
“You might wanna hurry up David, i'm detecting the same substance that's on all the corrupted monsters beginning to form within you. Whatever that item is, its spreading something in the air around it. Find it quick so i can take it and use to to upgrade. The sooner we get it, the sooner we can get out of here before you becoming a naked foaming monster.
By now, i couldn’t even laugh at what Mira had said from how clouded my mind had become. The edges of my vision were beginning to have shades of purple appear. I could see a couple purple veins begin to appear here and there around my body. From seeing this, i began running down the tunnels until i finally got to the end, to which i was met with a strange box glowing in a purple light with a fog moving around it. Right now my entire body was starting to feel like something else was trying to order it around.
“There it its! Get me to it now so i can get rid of this fog!
I ran right to the box, slamming it open, finding a gem similar to Mira’s but smaller and blue in color while Mira’s was red. I grab a hold of it and immediately felt my mind being ripped apart by something.
“RAAAAAAAGGGGHHHH! FUCKING HELL!”
“Shit, it’s trying to take over your mind, give me a second, i can take it over, just keep fighting it!”
“Arrrrgggghhh! WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK IM DOING! JUST FUCKING HURRY!” GAAAAKKKK!
“SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT, COME ON COME ON COME ON, WHERE THE FUCK IS IT, WHERE THE FUCK IS THAT FI…….I GOT IT! DAVID, EAT IT NOW!”
“GAH, YOU WANT ME TO WHAT NOW?”
“JUST FUCKING EAT IT!”
Fuck it, i do as Mira said at plopped the damn thing into my mouth and swallowed it. That's when the real fun started.
“GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”
With the help of Mira, the crystal was being dissolved within my body and reconstructing itself within my brain, though when the process should be quick and painless, this crystal had its security systems active which meant that a forced adaption protocol was used as i was to be later told by Mira which is the longer, more painful process of having the upgrade added to my body. The pain felt like needles were being forced down my throat, with explosions happening within my stomach, and daggers being stabbed into my brain. It was so excruciating that even after the pain had ended, my body still could not move from where it was. I would be stuck in that cave for another hour until my body began to move once more. I grudgingly gt myself back up on my feet, feeling like shit.
“Fuck! Why does everything have to hurt so goddamn much?”
“Hehe, well think of it this way, in exchange for lots of pain, you get big rewards. Which by the way, you should probably check on your stats.”
“Why, is it gonna tell me that i have a pain resistance stat now, cause that would be nice.”
“Nah, something better, just look.”
“Status”
I opened up my stats menu and what appears before me is a pop up that caused my jaw to drop.
“What the fuck!”