Night had fallen some time ago. Vincent was beaten, bloody and exhausted. He trekked cautiously back to his sanctuary, limping and dragging himself along, waiting for his vitality to do its job. There were so many sounds of chirping, roaring, scuffing, ect that it was deafening. A never ending chorus of the system's deadly war. To most, it was horrifying. There was a reason why people were scared of the dark.. that's when you were most vulnerable.
Vincent however, could not have been more relieved. Most predators relied heavily on their smell.. and their sight. With his sixth sense and Geographic inclination the man could navigate the jungle at night just as well as day. Here he had the advantage. Sure some creatures had evolved for night but for the most part he knew where they lurked and he avoided those areas.
He was walking cautiously, thinking about how wonderful a nap sounded when he sensed something he'd never felt before. A presence weaker than his own. He began to move more deliberately toward where he felt the presence. It was wounded.. barely moving at all. This was my chance to finally get some experience…
He was less than thirty feet away when he paused. Dead ahead was a tree much more massive than the average. Whatever the thing was, it was laid out on the other side. He began to carefully make his way around, hugging the tree as he did so. He steadied his heartbeat despite his nervousness.
Even if this creature felt weak.. wounded, cornered animals were often the most ferocious. As he finished making his way around the tree he instantly dropped his guard despite himself. Gasping he let his sneak drop and his arms drop to their sides. He took a few steps forward. "What..?" He mumbled.
On the ground before him, oozing green blood was a small silver wolf, about the size of a pre-system wolf pup he reckoned. He scanned it. "Huh.. that's.. how am I supposed to feel about that? That's pathetic. Wretched system.." He spat in disgust.
Name: lunar wolf pup (Mythic)
Lvl: 10
Stats:
Strength: 50
Endurance: 20
Vitality: 10
Intelligence: 20
Perception: 50
Agility: 75
Based on what he could see the only creature he would ever find below level ten would be… "A child..?"
The system wanted him to kill children to level up.. He supposed at its core that wasn't necessarily true. Logically he knew somewhere in the world there had to be other creatures like humans who were new to the system and thus were more or less low levels. But here in the country of Garkan, no such creature existed.
He wanted to vomit. There was no way.. he could ever.. even if it was just an animal. Even if it's intelligence wasn't vastly improved by the system which it definitely was, based on how the thing's eyes carefully followed his own.. he couldn't take this life just for the sake of power. He refused.
Fighting the Fang was different. Not only was it a full grown beast that has lived Years of a full life, but it was a predator like himself. A warrior. They fought on equal footing with respect and dignity. It was strange but he somehow sensed that the Fang felt the same way about this that he did. Only in the final battle can two souls truly know one another. And only through honor and respect can death have meaning
But this.. this was a wounded pup on death's door. There was no honor in this. He couldn't help but notice the name.. it was red.. and it said 'Mythical' which the system now revealed was the rarity after legendary. It seemed to unlock a rarity you had to encounter and comprehend something of that level. 'So red means Mythical.. A Mythical and only level 10.. how is this possible?'
Whatever was going on it all made sense. The system had glitched him into some late game area of the earth, perhaps some challenge or DLC raid island. Hell he was willing to bet across the endless sea was the rest of the world. The biggest question remained; what went wrong.
Was it his location when he was last on the old earth? Or was it some sort of divine punishment for how he had behaved? He didn't know and it didn't matter. He just wanted to yell and punch things but that wouldn't solve anything.
He looked at his own health which had restored quite a bit of itself;
Health: 3600/9600
He could definitely spare the health… he summoned his sword and created a gash across his arm quickly spraying blood across the wounded wolf. He made sure to clearly focus the intent of his will the entire time. No mistakes could be made here.
He began to fear he had made one such mistake when the small pup began to sizzle and squirm, but then it's wounds began to close. The healing effects of his blood were quite powerful, it would seem. In an instant the creature was up and running in circles, yipping for joy.
It ran up to Vincent wagging it's tail and smiling (dogs 1000% do smile he didn't care what anyone said) and Vincent dropped to his knees to greet it. it stood on its hind legs, front paws placed on Vincent's chest as if to hold him in place allowing the pup to begin savagely licking him to death.
Vincent burst into genuine laughter, feeling a himor and joy the likes of which he hadn't experienced in a long, long time. God he missed having a dog.. and this thing, whether it would grow up to be a savage monster that would rip his throat out or not, well for right now it was behaving like a loving pet and he was taking full advantage.
He noticed after healing it the small wolf pup now had a scar in the shape of a crescent moon. Funny that it was named lunar wolf pup and he had given it a scar in the shape of a moon when healing the massive gashes in its side.
He wondered what exactly had happened to it and he was surprised no predators had taken advantage of the wounded and weak creature. Maybe they didn't think it was worth their time.. that was often the case for most creatures besides the birds. Most predators desired a challenge and the thrill of the hunt. Or to be left alone.
He briefly considered taking this exquisite creature with him. He would certainly love to have it as a pet and moreover, love and joy were two emotions he so desperately missed these days.. he never knew how badly it could hurt to be so alone.
He had often felt isolated and miserable before because of his mental illnesses but this seclusion he'd been subject to for over a year now had cut him deep. Humans.. even the most anti social of them, desired contact.
He sighed... He couldn't do it. Even if the thing didn't grow up to eat his face off, it's parents might. There was also the fact that.. frankly he couldn't protect himself let alone a pup. Taking it in would severely hinder his training. It sounded bad but.. from here on out the pup would have to make it on its own or find its way home.
It tried following him and he had to fight back the tears that were stinging his eyes. That was one good puppo.. he figured. He may never see such a good boy again. He trekked back home with his head down the rest of the night.
When Vincent arrived back at the cave he found himself instinctively tracing the engravings on the pillar in the center of the room once more. He still couldn't get any details out of them. He wished to all manner of gods he could.. Maybe they would provide some answers. But wishing didn't get one very far with the system. He was just getting ready to go find a bed when the system dinged. He grinned. So the system thought the cute little puppy deserved to be saved too huh?
Congratulations! Feat: guardian angel achieved!
New perk: Empathy acquired!
Empathy. You understand the value of all life in the Nexus, not just your own. You lack any misguided preconceived notions of what makes one life 'more valuable' than another. All life Is created equal. Neither age nor wealth nor power can measure the weight of a soul. +25 vitality. +25% vitality.
'Heh.. maybe the system will help me progress without leveling. If it keeps giving me stats like that. Damn.. that's the second +25% to my vitality. Ridiculous.' Vincent mused internally. He unstrapped all the weighted armor he wore (weighted to improve his unparalleled physical fitness of course) and produced a comfy bed. Naps were arguably the best part of the entire day.
The next morning Vincent could be found meditating near the stream. if he could just develop a defensive skill that stacked well enough with his vitality which was already well on its way to being monstrous.. he had the unyielding guard but that required a shield and consumed large amounts of stamina if he was hit hard. He needed an ability he could activate at any time. He wondered.. if he was willing to give up one stat to improve another could he achieve a more powerful result?
The basis of his thinking was how berserker's rage consumed ten intelligence and redirected the energies of the attributes to further imbue attack and defense. If he could do the same thing but perhaps sacrifice a great amount of speed for defense.. he was already getting faster than he could reasonably control anyways.
He was mulling over his battles from the time he had first arrived to just last night. He remembered how the Fang couldn't penetrate the thick scales of the dragon, at least not deep enough to hurt it. It was fast but all that speed was useless to its sheer strength. And then there was the turtle yesterday that had tanked the equivalent of three of his most powerful attacks and it didn't even notice. The mountain back turtle.
He focused, feeling the hard, unmoving rock beneath him. He thought about mountains and how, even when struck by unyielding winds and insurmountable tidal waves they remain sturdy and firm. It took millions upon millions of years of constant assault before a mountain would surrender. He had to be the same.
He would have to give up nearly all of his speed. Rooted to the ground like an ancient tree that has spent countless lifetimes developing its roots, curling throughout the crust of the earth to get a tighter grip. It could not be removed.
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He was the trees. He was the mountains. He was the dragon.. he was the Ancient Slumbering Tortoise.
Congratulations! Skill: Ancient Slumbering Tortoise (legendary) achieved!
Ancient Slumbering tortoise (Legendary) multiplies the total defense of the user by 50! However, sets agility to 1
This is a unique ability created by one who's heart is as firm and unmoving as the earth itself. Sets agility 1 point higher every level while ability is active. (Active ability) (consumes 1000 mana)
Vincent held the ability for several seconds and couldn't help the hearty laugh that clawed its way from his throat. It seemed Ancient slumbering turtle and complete tranquility could be activated at the same time, meaning his defense and regenerations as well as his intelligence would all be massively multiplied.
Somehow, he had created an absolute monster of a combination between his defense and vitality. Now if he could just increase his strength enough to go toe to toe with the Fang… yeah fat chance.
His agility was set to 1 which.. in case you were wondering.. allowed him to take one slow lumbering step at a time. He felt as if he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders which was accurate. His defense though.. with his regular armor and no shield his defense was a measly 40, but with his new ability it was multiplied to 2000! The way he understood it, defense was a percentage multiplier on his strength stat.. meaning his strength of about 70 (without buffs) was effectively multiplied to 1400.
How many creatures were there with a strength of over 1400? How strong was the Fang? He knew damage couldn't be reduced below 99% but if he was fighting something that was powerful enough to one shot him 100 times over his dumb ass deserved to die.
But survivability was only one part of the problem. If all he could do was survive it would never be enough to win. He would have to hit the Fang hard enough to kill it or at least mortally wound it and for that he needed an attack roughly three times stronger than the ridiculous Deus Ex Machina he had used before.
He supposed with his steadily increasing arsenal of skills he could eventually build up enough momentum to move at manageable speeds even with only 1 agility but if he did anything more than turn around or swing an arm, Complete tranquility would be nullified. The best thing he could think to do would be to build up as much kinetic force as possible and then end it all in one strike, perhaps even dropping his defensive skill at the end for an extra burst of speed.
Hopefully a combination of a defensive skill that powerful and his astronomical vitality while in his complete tranquility state would allow him to tank enough hits from the Fang to increase his attack output by at least 10 times. How many hits would that be? Without knowing exactly how much health he would lose and kinetic momentum he would gain per hit he couldn't be sure.
For now.. he needed to train. He still had a few abilities to get up to snuff and his companion could help him get a relative idea of how best to use this new skills in combat. He would see exactly how difficult it would be to fight with only 1 agility. He thought about having his companion activate the ability while he did the wailing but uhh.. kind of seemed like a dick move.
He summoned his sword and shield trading them in for a weaker version and giving the stronger pair to his companion. With his companions defense rating of 120 and his being only 50 the battle would be much more fruitful. He settled into a stance feeling the crushing weight of the world slide over him. He grunted feeling extremely uncomfortable. He really hoped this skill got easier to use with levels…
His companion charged an unwavering strike and shadow stepped at him to gain massive momentum. 'Clever bastard..' He mumbled. He considered raising his shield but didnt even have time. With an armor rating of 2500 what was the point anyways? His sword of Anguish, thrust forward by his copy, crashed against his chest with a dull, ringing CLANG! And he couldn't help but grin. He had lost 30 points of health. He didn't even feel it.
It was nearly two hours later when the two of them decided to call it quits. Vincent was running low on potions and he needed fresh materials. The crystals were incredibly easy to find when you knew where to look, the dead monsters however… those were hit and miss. And the material found in the jungle was a quality laughably higher than any purchased from the system shops.
On that note however, he did have something in reserve he had been saving for a special occasion.. He walked over to his forge and also constructed his companion to prepare a cauldron. From his inventory he pulled out the dead body of the giant stegosaurus looking creature that he had found clear back in chapter nine several months ago.
His abilities had grown much sharper since the day he had found the beast and he was rather adept with his Ecology these days. His eyes glowed, one blue and one red as he observed the beast's decaying body. It's scales were thick and it's muscles dense, but the true value was the toxic sack hidden within its chest.. A potent, unstable purple energy buzzed within. He focused, pulling out his sword and activating several skills; Telekinesis. (Rare) lvl 49, Aerodynamics (Rare) lvl 35, Sword and shield (Common) 60, Extract (Rare) lvl 40, Refine (Rare) lvl 40
He swung his sword so quickly it appeared as a blur for several seconds. When he was done he flicked the blade to the side to dislodge it of gore and re-sheathed it in one quick, fluid motion. The monster, now split into 1000 shapes created with surgical precision, was carefully distributed piece by piece into separate piles which Vincent and his companion quickly used for any variety of things.
He kept most of the meat for food, while using the skin, tough muscle and bone as a makeshift armor. It was obsidian and scaly and it seemed to match his sword pretty well also.. He gave it a quick inspection and whistled at the stats.
Carapace of the Carsidion's Familiar (Epic) Lvl 50!
CCP (Epic) lvl 50 Defense: 250
GE (Unique) lvl 22 Defense: 139
All Defense equipment: 369
Moving on he used the blood, squishy bits and most importantly, the poison sac, to craft a potion. To this he also added his own blood and Gaia's blood which.. wasn't technically a blood but still. He pulled out some mushrooms and other poisonous plants he'd found. He even threw inside some poisonous food like berries and such because.. why not use overkill?
Congratulations! Massive amounts of XP rewarded!
A new potion has been discovered.. calculating effects..
Alchemy (Uncommon) Has increased to level 60!
Heretic's Atrocious Venom (Unique) lvl 60!
Vincent frowned heavily at the given name of the pulsing, light purple substance. "Seriously..? You're so petty sometimes. Just because my methods are unorthodox…" the man sweat dropped. The venom was contained in a small glass vial roughly ten fluid ounces in size. It had a green cork with a black toxic skull symbol etched into the sides. He really had no way of knowing how potent the stuff would be until he used it but for now.. a swirl opened up beside him and he placed his arm, vial in hand, inside. When he withdrew the appendage the vial was gone.
He threw together a quick meal and strapped on his new and inproved weighted armor. He smacked his face with both hands several times to get the blood flowing. He drew his arms close to his torso and clenched his fists as if to do a squat punch. He breathed in deeply.
"Alright. Let's go!" He bounded off into the heavy evening air with a sense of purpose and determination. He would gather enough materials to train for several days on end.. after that he would begin to challenge the weaker creatures of the jungle once more and see what difference, if any the new stats made. Hopefully within a year he could come up with a way to defeat the Fang.
It didn't take him long to find some decent material. He came upon some freshly killed.. rabbit looking things. If rabbits were roughly the size of cars and had razor sharp teeth a foot long. He shuddered to think what could have killed not one but several of the beasts.
Roughly an hour later he came upon a group of dead boars that were damn near twice the size of the rabbits. After harvesting them as well he narrowed his eyes and focused. Something in this jungle was extremely aggressive today. It wasn't even killing for survival, merely for support. That didn't bode well.. and he couldn't be caught off guard, even at this stage in his growth.
Pushing each of his senses to the max he tried to sense a spike in killer intent higher than the usual intense amounts throughout the jungle. Sensing complex emotions was much more difficult than flows of energy but they had similar properties. After slowly scanning everything around him in a ten meter radius he sighed. He just couldn't 'see' far enough.. the details got more inaccurate the further from his body he got as well.
He was moving cautiously throughout the jungle following signs of death when he could and scanning frequently when he couldn't. He was beginning to think he was going to continue following this wild goose all the way into the next day when he came upon a slew of lizard looking things. As he began to harvest them he couldn't help but feel like the whole situation was peculiar. It was almost as if they had been purposely arranged in a line.. he placed one in his inventory roughly every twenty feet from the other..
As he placed the last one in his inventory and dusted off his hands he took a step forward and froze. Less than ten feet ahead of him was a gigantic rock that was blocked off on both sides by thick thorns and tree trunks. To his left and right there were dense bushes packed too tightly together to judge whether or not it was safe to travel through them.
And directly behind him… were at least a dozen massive wolves, each the size of a Harley Davidson bike. They had pearly white fur that Vincent was sure must have glistened with a beautiful blue hue in the moonlight.
As it were, however.. most of them had half of their coats matted with blood and flesh. They growled and stalked toward him slowly. The wolf in the front was clearly the Alpha as it was twice the size of the rest and the other purposely stayed just behind it in a submissive march. They glanced at it every now and then to make sure their leader wasn't sending any kind of physical signals.
They had allowed him to pick up the bodies they'd cleverly used to lure him into this vulnerable position before ambushing him. They were obviously extremely clever… and that posed a problem.
Vincent cursed himself for being so stupid. He would have backed up but where would he go? He summoned his sword and shield and instantly activated the Ancient Slumbering Tortoise to boost his defenses. Looked like he was going to get to test his new ability in a real combat situation much sooner than he expected..
He raised his shield and the leader of the pack stepped forth and barked. It raised its head in a quick command and the wolf on its left lunged. Vincent smirked as the wolf's bite barely even scratched his shield and he batted the creature away with a back hand. It yelped but he was sure he hadn't hurt the thing any more than it had him.
He laughed out loud. He had only lost five health and he had even gained a new skill for his half-assed efforts..
Congratulations! Skill: Shield bash (Common) achieved!
Shield bash (Common) User delivers a forceful thrust to an opponent while using a shield in either one or both hands. Cost a small amount of stamina to use. Due to the 'Common' rarity gain a miniscule bonus to force of the bash and reduction to stamina consumption per level. (Shield skill) (Active skill)
He didn't even have time to bring his shield back around to bear when the wolf on the right of the alpha lunged next. He parried it as best he could with his sword and took ten damage for his troubles. "Tisk.. give me a break you cheaters. Ganging up on me like this.." He had no doubt in his mind this was the group responsible for the string of deaths he'd witnessed on the way to this little trap.
He brought his shield and sword back around and settled into a stance but with his 1 agility he couldn't keep up when the alpha itself struck next. It reared its head and slipped right past his defenses clamping down on his shoulder. He sucked in a breath and thrust as hard as he could with his blade over and over.
He knew he pierced the things stomach a few inches but that was just as much from the sheer momentum of the wolf as the new skill he'd just unlocked.
Congratulations! Skill: Piercing thrust (Uncommon) achieved!
Piercing thrust (Uncommon) User thrusts his weapon forward with all his might. Works best with a sword in tight spaces. Consumes a small amount of stamina per thrust. Due to the 'Uncommon' rarity gain an insubstantial bonus to speed and damage of thrust per level. (Active skill)
The wolf jumped back several feet, tearing a small chunk of flesh from the man's shoulder. He barely lost 500 health points so he wasn't too worried about it. But something else made him freeze. The wolf's blood.. it was green. He scanned the snarling beast. He has surely seen green blood on such a beast before..
The only thing he got was a name but that was all he needed..
Lunar wolf Alpha.
His eyes widened. The wolf pup.. these things must have been its pack. Maybe that's why they were tearing the jungle apart.. they were looking for the pup. Or whatever had hurt it. Sadness began to overtake them. He placed his sword back into his inventory and frowned. He couldn't kill them.. well.. A because he didn't have the heart and B.. He kind of doubted he could based on how small the cuts on the wolf had been and how fast it healed.
The Alpha charged again. Vincent held out his arm not holding the shield. "Wait!" He shouted pleadingly. The wolf stumbled, looking up at the dark haired man confused. It sniffed the sir a few times. Vincent continued, "Listen we.. don't have to fight. I won't kill you. I can help you find your baby. Do you understand me?"
The wolf for its part furrowed its brow and cocked it's head. It definitely understood the gist of what he was saying, thanks to system enhanced intelligence. The question was whether or not the thing chose to trust him. He got his answer a second later when the wolf snarled and lunged again.
This time it took a bite out of his leg. its fangs didn't penetrate quite to the bone, but it was still incredibly painful. Not only that but all the other wolves began to join in on the attack as well.
The small one's didn't do much. Even when they cut into his bare skin and left a gash it healed rather quickly, only doing 100 damage at the most. With his Ancient Slumbering tortoise and Complete tranquility active, his massive vitality was working at effectively over 1000. He was regenerating a little over 20 HP a second. Most of the pack was insignificant to him. Even still..
The damage from the alpha was piling up. He was taking anywhere from 300-500 a hit and he was already down to 8000 hp with his buffs included. Not only that but each of the large wolf's bites felt like being stabbed with several kitchen knives. If you've never had the privilege of experiencing such a thing, then boy did Vincent feel sorry for you, suckers.
The battle had only gone on for a minute thus far and it wasn't looking good. His skill levels were rising a bit but not fast enough to make a difference. All of the important ones took seemingly forever to level up. He was beginning to get a bit woozy. Of it wasn't for his newly crafted armor he was sure he'd have been eating through his second wind already. This wasn't sustainable.
His complete tranquility skill slipped several times forcing him to pay the activation fee again in mana. He was definitely sure he must be hallucinating when he heard a small 'yip' 'yip' 'yip' from far away.
But then the attacks stopped..
He slowly opened his eyes, which was quite difficult with all the blood gushing down his face. His health dipped below 4000 and that was downright uncomfortable. He blinked rapidly and wiped his eyes. His vision slowly came into focus revealing a pup. Specifically…
Lunar wolf pup
Lvl 11
In the day and a half since he had seen it last it had grown a full level but sure enough it was the same pup he had saved. Apparently it was having some wolf version of an argument with its dad because it was yipping loudly and the alpha was growling in response.
Gosh if he had talked to his parents that way… Vincent shuddered. After a few awkward moments the two of them seemed to settle their differences and the young wolf pup bounded happily up to Vincent and began licking his wounds.
Cautiously he let his Slumbering tortoise drop but left Complete tranquility active for the regenerative effects. He looked up at the alpha who was sitting in all fours, eyeing its cub warily. It looked up as it noticed Vincent's attention upon it.
"So.. does this mean I live then..?" Vincent asked with a hopeful shrug and a raised brow. The Alpha seemed to smirk before nodding. Vincent sighed in relief. He sat down and gently began scratching the small pup which was yipping happily. It's fur was softer than any silk. He sighed contentedly. Looks like he had made some friends, finally. And some powerful ones at that.
Congratulations! Feat: Animalium Amantis achieved! Perk: Animal lover awarded!
Animal lover. Your relationship with nature's offspring is greatly improved! All other forms of life of similar or lesser level share a deep mutual respect for you. Less aggressive creatures may instantly befriend you and most others can be tamed over time.
'More Latin..? huh. Must have picked that up from Zar-Rhah." He smiled, thinking how funny life was. Just a moment ago he had been minutes from certain death and now he was forming a bond with the prince of his would be killers. Life was full of shit moments. It doesn't matter who or what you are. It was hard at times. Downright unfair. But times like these.. the good.. the unexpected.. this is what made it worth living.
End of chapter 19