Chapter 283

Max couldn’t help but smile as he raced across the sand, their shapes illuminated by the blue glow of the moon.

His new companion, Aimee, screamed for only about twenty seconds, which didn’t matter, as he ran in the direction each of them had pointed for five miles before angling back toward the stone cliffs.

“What are you?! Who are you!?”

Aimee was backing away after being set down on the flat rock surface, her black eyes reflecting the fireball Max had summoned upon reaching there. She tugged at her robe and moved closer toward the sheer stone wall.

“I won’t hurt you, I promise,” Max replied as he held out his free hand toward her. “Why would I rescue you and then do something…”

He stopped talking, realizing that perhaps for her this might be exactly what she was thinking.

Trying to smile, Max gave her some room, watching as she glanced in both directions.

“If you want to go, I won’t stop you. I… I heard you or your friend scream, and I couldn’t—”

“She wasn’t my friend!” Aimee snapped. “I mean… she was just…”

Her facial skin was tight as her jaw clamped shut, both nostrils flaring out a bit as she breathed. A shudder came, and then an unexpected bow was given.

“I was sold as a slave, just like her. We were deemed… worthless.”

Aimee’s voice went hollow as she stared at the dark stone ground.

“You wouldn’t understand. You have power. I don’t.”

Max let go of his sack, letting it fall as he took a seat and sat cross-legged, looking up at her.

“I wasn’t strong once… People tried to kill me,” Max replied, wincing as he relived all those memories. “I was hunted, betrayed, and finally found some friends. They became a family, and just when I thought I was strong enough to protect them…”

Sighing, Max saw that Aimee’s eyes were locked on his.

“The hunter or as those warriors said, Death of the worst kind , brought me here. Held me for months and has released me. I have only a few days left to get as far away as possible from him. After that, he will start to track me down again.”

Aimee’s eyes widened, and she slowly sat down, blinking rapidly as she appeared to be studying his face.

“You were weak? Like me?”

Snorting, Max shrugged.

“I wanted to be a baker, just someone who made bread and cake.”

“What is cake?” Aimee asked as she cocked her head.

“Bread that is sweet and has a creamy layer on the outside,” Max replied, using his hands to best mimic what he said.

“Oh. You mean bunakamea . We have something like that, but it is very expensive. Not many can make it well, and the items needed to make are not cheap.”

“Perhaps one day I can make you some. For now, I need to know a few things about where I am and what this world is like.”

Shifting a little, Aimee’s jaw dropped.

“You are from another world!? I knew it! There are very few like you, and all have power!”

He watched her reactions, and heard the shock in her voice.

Some sounds came from down the stone area in the direction they would be heading.

Aimee jumped to her feet, hissing as she stared into the darkness.

“We should go… those are… demon cats .”

Max stood, puzzled by the word he heard in his head.

“They are dangerous?”

She nodded.

“Very. Even those fools would struggle to face them with that cave. Out here, with nowhere to run, they would be cut down. That is why the Stone Masters carve those caves. Some are higher, and some are on the ground. Can you move stone as well?”

Max tried to understand what Aimee was asking, but he sent the fireball higher into the sky, watching the ball of flame illuminate the rock surface.

About forty feet up was a hole in the mountain about a quarter of a mile away that he could make out.

Loud cries, almost sounding like a child or a woman screaming echoed along the stone walls.

“They see the light! They will come! It is too high for us to reach that!”

Aimee was starting to back away, glancing in the direction they had come.

“Perhaps we can return to the cave, fight with them. Surely—”

“We’ll be fine. I’m going to carry you again, so hold still.”

“How will we—”

Max smiled as he grabbed his bag and quickly picked up Aimee once more, running toward the wall and leaping into the air when he was close.

His angle and height was good—with the strength in his legs, the forty feet wasn’t much of an issue—but even then, he summoned a wall of air, laughing as his new companion screamed as they turned midair, jumping into the cave.

“What if someone was in here!” she exclaimed as Max set her down.

“There wasn’t, I already checked,” Max replied, dropping his pack once more.

His Sonar had told him the cave was about twenty feet deep and that no one or anything was inside it.

The fireball hung outside still, providing a little bit of light to see.

More cries came, and with each, a sensation of pain and suffering that wanted to tug at his soul.

Aimee fell to the floor, pulled her knees up, and hugged them, slowly rocking.

“Are you ok?”

She whimpered and shook her head.

“I’m weak. Worthless. Deemed unworthy to be given a stone, to be given power. My—”

A sudden cry cut her off, and Max turned to look over the edge, seeing movement coming toward where his fireball was.

“Are you safe up here?”

“Yes… they cannot climb this high, and… wait, why did you ask if I was safe?”

Grinning, Max gave her a wink, though he was certain she missed it in the darkness.

“I’m going to go fight them.”

“Please don’t! If you die, I’ll be stuck here!”

Max pulled the weapon from the bag and spun it quickly.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

[ Inspect Weapon ]

[ System type does not match current system… Translating… ]

*****

Well Crafted Naginata

*****

Well damn… no stats? How am I supposed to know how good this is?

“Aimee, I’ll be back, but one last question. Will this blade cut those creatures?”

“Ye… yes.”

Casting Lightning on his weapon, Max grinned.

“Don’t move, I’ll be back.”

He took a step, falling down from the entrance, and landed on the ground, making a thud as he hit, but his body easily handled that kind of impact.

Lowering the fireball, he began to infuse more mana into it and also summoned his familiar.

As shadows appeared from the light, the rocks and small boulders that were strewn around, Max heard the cry again and felt the pain in his chest, knowing whatever it was had to be some kind of ability or attack.

Then seven shapes appeared at the edge of the lighted area, the blue glow of the moon causing their bodies to be revealed.

Each one had empty eye sockets, no eyes present, and their bodies had a set of lines that looked like runes of some sort, glowing blue in the light of the moon.

The rest of their body matched the color of the stone cliffs, providing the perfect camouflage against anyone who didn’t have light like he did.

As one they moved, a solid line of attackers, each the same distance apart. Their claws extended from paws, making a clicking sound on the stone.

Twenty yards seemed like a lot of space until the seven of them made it so there wasn’t any place to get past them.

They’re smart… pack hunters.

Each one took a turn as they moved within fifty yards, crying out with a horrible sound like someone torturing a child, which echoed off the walls.

Sobs came from above, and Max heard Aimee as she struggled with whatever effect it was supposed to have.

“It won’t work on me,” Max called out.

A spear of ice began to appear next to him, growing larger, and Max studied the seven, looking to see if one perhaps was the leader.

Each one was about the same size of a horse, fur now visible as they got within thirty-five yards. Liquid dripped from their teeth, and Max groaned, not sure whether it was simply drool or something else.

Standing near the stone wall, Max waited, watching as the seven surrounded him, none moving closer than twenty yards as they all waited till each was exactly the same distance.

Ready to see what they could do, Max feinted an attack to the right, sending his fireball at the one on the left.

The one he moved toward backed up, while the one on the left immediately started to move forward with the others, finding a ball of flame half its size now racing toward it.

Just before his spell would hit, the cat vanished, and the closest one to it grew in size by about a third.

Flames slammed into the stone, sending out fire which splattered, and as it was about to hit the one near his original target, it too vanished, and the cat that was next to it now grew by at least half its size.

Not sure what would happen if all seven joined together, Max started casting Fire Nova, moving toward the one on his right, watching as it dodged backward, vanishing right before his weapon struck.

Four shapes came at him, none waiting any longer.

Max spun, swinging with his weapon, the distance gone in a second.

The one closest to him cried out as the weapon cut its chest, the long, curved blade slicing till it struck bone, sending the cat flying toward the sand.

[ Demonic Teleportation ]

Appearing behind the biggest one, Max swung.

[ Power Strike ]

[ Quick Attack ]

The back two legs were cut off, and a cry louder than before came.

[ Fire Nova ]

The spell went off, washing over the stone and toward the remaining three.

Flames moved, and right before they engulfed the one he had just disabled, its body vanished, the closest one doubling in size.

Max’s Sonar told him what else had happened: The one he had sent flying had vanished also at the same time, and now only two remained.

Both suffered from the flames but not like Max had hoped.

The smaller one cried out, and as the second wave of his spell washed out from him, it, too, vanished, leaving the last one now even larger.

It spun, turning with a speed that seemed impossible, faster than he was.

Claws came and attacked.

[ Evasion ]

Max dodged, parrying and moving back, as he sent the ice spear he had held in check at the creature.

It tried to move and avoid it, but Max summoned his wall of stone and wall of air, boxing it in.

The spell pierced the brown fur but only by about a foot, barely enough to draw blood as the beast came at him, not willing to play any longer.

It only took a second for Max to understand the truth of this fight.

There wasn’t any other way to win. His spell wouldn’t do enough, and the last wave of the Fire Nova didn’t even seem to accomplish more than the smell of burnt fur.

Whatever this creature had become, it was beyond him.

Even with all the power he had right now, going toe to toe without giving everything he had wouldn’t be enough.

[ Rampage ]

[ Magical Strike ]

[ Berserker ]

The night went purple as the red tint of his vision and the blue light of the moon mixed.

Whatever had happened to him, the cat seemed to realize something had changed, but there was nothing it could do.

It had committed to attacking, and Max was standing toe to toe with it, parrying and evading each strike.

Then he had a turn.

His mind didn’t need him to do much beyond unleash everything he felt.

All the pain and anger of being trapped.

Not seeing Tanila or even knowing if she was okay left a burning pit in his soul.

Wondering what had happened to his Faction with him gone made Max fearful each day of someone retaliating and undoing all the hard work he had put in.

Every ounce of that fueled him now.

The first strike was planned, slicing off the creature's front paw and then the next leg at the joint.

His blade shattered upon the impact with the bones of its knee, yet it didn’t matter.

So much power was directed that it sent those pieces like shrapnel into the night sky.

The wooden shaft was still good, apparently stronger than the metal itself, and Max used it like a spear, ramming it upward into the beast throat as he leaped upward.

It pierced the soft tissue, driving through the cat’s jaw, and cracked the skull portion underneath.

No real cry came as the beast attempted to pull back, stumbling without half a leg and missing a paw.

Max let it fall, pulling his staff free, and he then unleashed strike after strike against the demon cat.

Thrusts took out pieces of its flesh, punctured a lung, and finally found a heart.

The cat fell into convulsions, and a gurgled cry came from the cat’s mouth before Max moved from beside the beast and jumped onto its side as it fell over.

His weapon sounded like thunder, loud cracks reverberating off the walls of the stone cliffs.

Yet each time, the weapon hit with his desired outcome. No attack was random or consumed by rage.

In this moment, in this quiet place, his skill had changed, and Max was the master of it.

One well-placed strike split the skull, exposing a pulsing piece of brain.

He drove the wood forward, the blood and gore covered stick sliding through his hands as he used his hips for power.

Darkness hit him as it felt like lightning came from the heavens and ravaged every nerve in his body.

Before he passed out, Max saw the words for a moment.

[ Consume has Consumed… System Error ]

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