The main function of the talent was to regain his stamina. And since stamina was interlinked with vitality, Zyrus was able to regain a significant amount of HP as well.
Similar to his fight against goblin riders, green text floated in front of him as he sucked in the red essence.
This cheaty ability worked for two reasons. His Sylvarix race was far superior compared to his enemies, and his vitality was nearly fivefold compared to theirs.
Against monsters like Tauranox, he would only regain a minuscule amount of HP. In this sense, the regeneration skill was far better as its effects were absolute.
Nonetheless, this brief period gave him the time to catch his breath as all of the rats were under the effect of stun.
‘Let’s see, ten minutes left…’ Zyrus calculated the time before his stats would be halved.
Just as he had said, there weren’t many fights he couldn’t win in half an hour.
This one was no exception.
[Arcane Lance]
Zyrus hurled ten lances at the scavenger and sawtooth rat kings. Without sparing them another glance, he channeled his mana and lunged at the burrow rat king.
Blood filled with dense energy pumped through his legs as he used his agility to the fullest. Naturally, he was holding back on his speed after using the SP.
Otherwise, 20 minutes were enough to turn the land around him into a domain of scorching magma.
The burrow rat king didn’t have the chance to escape. Zyrus was in front of it in just a second.
*Thrust*
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Zyrus impaled his spear in the rat's back and lifted it upside down.
*SQEEAK*
The rat king floundered in the air as it screamed in pain. Dozens of burrow rats charged at Zyrus at their leader’s desperate cry.
[Arcane Lance]
Ten lances made up of dark blue mana shimmered around Zyrus. Unlike before, he launched them vertically at the burrow rat king.
-300,-300,-500,-500,-300
.
.
With Zyrus’s lightning-fast ambush, the poor leader didn’t have the chance to execute any of its traits before its vitality hit Zero. A crown holder fell in the air just like that.
Exp +35,000
[Congratulations! You have obtained a “Bronze Crown”]
The rat king's corpse limped atop the spear’s edge. The burrow rats that were aiming at Zyrus were left scared and flabbergasted.
Their king had died at the hand of an intruder, leaving them behind with a new leader. Although they didn’t have to obey Zyrus despite him holding the rat king's crown, they couldn’t attack him either.
Most importantly, they couldn’t escape from him in this close proximity.
*Sweep*
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Zyrus mercilessly swept his spear at his new ‘subordinates’ and sent another barrage of arcane lance at the two surviving kings.
Learning from their ally’s mistake, the two kings retreated amongst the group of their clan members.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Zyrus gave them a snide glance without interrupting their movement. He had neither the intention nor the strength to kill them at this juncture.
He just had to hold them off until his troops arrived. Thus, He killed a dozen more burrow rats before halting his assault.
Zyrus had successfully exerted his dominance on the surviving hundred burrow rats. His authority with the bronze crown, coupled with the suppression from his Sylvarix bloodline was enough to subdue these timid rats.
‘And this is done as well,’
Zyrus chucked in satisfaction as he looked at the floating screen in front of him.
[You have met the necessary requirement to activate the special ability]
[You can obtain one of the Burrow Rat’s special traits]
[Obtained traits: 0/10]
Note: This ability can be used once every 20 levels.
Note: The traits will be granted at random and they will be modified to suit your race.
Note: The obtained traits can be developed further with the race evolution.
His main goal for this fight was achieved at this moment. Unfortunately, he couldn’t afford to proceed with the blood fusion just yet.
Zyrus ordered the burrow rats to engage in a scuffle against their former allies. As he was a monster himself, he didn’t need any equipment to convey his commands. The connection formed by the bronze crown was enough for him to give some basic orders to them.
Both he and the rat kings were waiting for the reinforcement. Of course, the rat kings would have never thought that the troops they sent after Jacob would never return.
It was a clever ploy. Zyrus had ordered the goblin riders to be far away from the camp before the fight began. Normally, the rats would have noticed their presence once they drew closer, but since Zyrus had occupied their attention with his poison breath, they didn’t have a chance to do so.
Not to mention, Jacob had invested his hard-earned SP into agility as per Zyrus’s suggestion. In just 10 minutes, he was hundreds of meters away from the main battlefield.
The scattered goblin riders had noticed his fleeting figure long ago. Once everyone was gathered, they ambushed the 100 unsuspecting rats with rapid attacks.
The rats had no idea what happened when they were enshrouded in a barrage of arrows. While keeping their distance, the goblin riders killed half of them before they had a chance to engage in close combat.
Even then, the remaining 50 rats proved to be a difficult challenge for goblin riders. If it were any other monsters, they would have made a porcupine out of them with their arrows. But the rats were too fast even for their archery skills.
Thankfully, the wolves played a crucial role in that fight. Though not yet recognized by the sanctuary, these wolves were slowly reaching the level of standard monsters.
After feasting upon the players' and orcs’ corpses, their innate strength shot up to new heights. They fought ferociously without caring for the wounds inflicted upon them.
In the end, they tore apart the rats without a single causality. Although many of them were injured, it wasn’t to a degree that’d hinder their mobility.
All of this took place before the rat kings made their appearance. By the time when Zyrus’s stats were about to be halved, the goblin riders had already encircled the entire battlefield.
“Good job,” Zyrus praised their quick speed as he shamelessly hid behind his troop. The rat kings were well aware of their presence before they encroached upon them, but what could they do?
Only now did the severity of their situation dawn upon them. They had no chance to escape without the burrow rats.
From their original 500 members, only 200 or so remained by now. Both sides were evenly matched in numbers and the amount of injuries.
However, Zyrus was confident in his victory. From the start he wanted things to be this way. He wanted to kill a third of them for two reasons.
First, for exp. After killing hordes of rats and the burrow rat king, he had acquired 72,500 exp. Coupled with the leftover exp from Tauranox, he was very close to reaching lv 13.
The second reason was the timid nature of the rats. After subduing the burrow rats, their original numbers went down from 500 to 200.
“Now then, will you surrender or not?” Zyrus beckoned to the rat kings as he played with his spear. They had no way to know that Zyrus had his stats halved and Jacob was out of mana. Not to mention, the wolves were in no shape to chase them down on a long run.
*Sqeek*
Without even looking at the scavenger rat king, the sawtooth rat king surrendered immediately. It had lost most of its clan members as they were the primary attack force.
With merely 50 members, the king no longer had a crown on its head.
“Good choice,” Zyrus accepted their surrender and looked at the last king with a calm gaze.
The rat king hesitated for a while but eventually, it submitted to Zyrus as well.
“You sure are evil,”
“Well, it’s their fault for being weak.”
Zyrus chatted with Jacob and ordered the injured wolves to feast on the remaining corpses. He knew that it was only a matter of time before they underwent a qualitative transformation.
The gruesome sight further increased the rat's fear and loyalty towards Zyrus’s group.
At last, only the corpses of burrow rats were left on the battlefield. Zyrus ordered Jacob and the rats to camp a few kilometers away as he remained alone on the bloody battlefield.
Jacob gave him an inquisitive glance before leaving, but he didn’t ask any questions. Zyrus had fused an ogre's heart with him, so he could guess what he was about to do.
Since it was the first time he was using this skill, Zyrus didn’t know what were the exact requirements. It would be a chore to drag all these corpses, and this place was definitely not suitable for rest and recuperation.
Thus, he was left with no other choice than to remain behind and recover his mana. Like every powerful ability, blood fusion also required an abundance of it.
Two hours passed by before Zyrus recovered his depleted mana. The stat debuff had long since run out as well.
Finally, he was all set to accomplish his goal for this fight.
[Absorb]
Zyrus placed his hand on the pile of corpses and activated his talent.