His eyes darted around the library, searching for anything that could serve as a weapon.
Castellaverde had always been peaceful—weapons weren't exactly common household items. His gaze settled on a nearby encyclopedia—thick, heavy, with a sturdy leather binding. It would have to do.
As Adrian grabbed the tome and sprinted toward the creature and the rift, he was struck by how differently his body moved. Each step carried him further than it should have, his muscles responding with unfamiliar strength.
Every breath seemed to flood his body with power, the HeartForge skill clearly making itself known.
The creature fully emerged from the rift, revealing its bizarre physiology. It stood on short, stubby legs that seemed disproportionate to its body. What drew Adrian's attention were its forelimbs—impossibly long, thin arms that dragged behind its body like grotesque appendages. Each limb ended in curved claws as long as Adrian's forearm, reminiscent of those found on sloths but far more lethal. Its face was covered in fine, wispy fur, an unsettling hybrid of bat and pug features—a flattened snout with wide-set eyes beneath pointed ears. The entirety of its body was covered in a fine, sparse coat of hair, exposing patches of purplish skin beneath.
Adrian hurled the encyclopedia when he was within range. The creature swung one of its elongated arms to intercept the projectile, momentarily obscuring its vision. Adrian seized the opportunity to advance.
Instinctively, he channeled energy into his feet. His next step launched him forward with startling speed, propelling him directly toward the creature. Wide-eyed at his own velocity but committed to the attack, Adrian did the first thing that came to mind as he planted his foot mere centimeters from the creature—he threw a punch.
With a high-pitched shriek, the creature absorbed the impact.
Adrian felt his knee buckle from the unexpected forward momentum—he was moving faster than he'd anticipated.
His fist connected solidly, driving the creature back toward the portal.
"Merda!" he cursed, wincing at the pain radiating from his knuckles. Despite the discomfort, he'd accomplished his goal—the creature was retreating back through the rift.
Peering into the portal, Adrian glimpsed what lay beyond. A forested landscape stretched out in twilight, the day's light fading to a deep purple hue. The rift had opened near the edge of a steep precipice. Below, dark trees stretched into the distance, their tops barely visible in the dim light. More creatures were scaling the cliff face, their elongated limbs dragging behind them as they moved with unsettling speed.
Adrian muttered another curse, frantically searching within himself for a solution. His new ability, Anima Ferrea, supposedly granted him malleability and resilience—the power to shape his body using Essence. He needed to access that power now.
He looked inward, attempting to locate and control this energy by sheer force of will.
With a deep breath, he finally sensed it—flowing through his veins, a potent energy brimming with potential that seemed to emanate from somewhere beyond his comprehension.
Come on, he thought to himself. How do I kill creatures with claws the size of my arm?
He paused, startled by his own thought process. Wait, what am I thinking? Kill these creatures? I need to focus on survival first.
Directing the energy within himself, Adrian felt resistance, as if the power had a will of its own. What little control he could exert didn't seem capable of fulfilling his half-formed dreams of transforming his arm into some kind of weapon.
Think.
The first creature was nearly at the edge of the portal. Adrian glanced back to see Luccio saying something, but he couldn't make out the words. Making a split-second decision, he stepped through the portal. Immediately, he felt the change in atmosphere—cooler, damper, the air heavy with unfamiliar scents.
The portal hung well above him now, and he could easily reach up and touch its edge.
Looking down the cliff face at the approaching creatures, Adrian inhaled deeply and extended his right arm. In his mind, he visualized his arm being enveloped in energy, transforming until it resembled those of the creatures—complete with long, lethal claws.
He felt his Essence draining rapidly, but he didn't stop. He imagined his arm gaining resilience, the fine hairs morphing into something closer to porcupine quills—defensive, dangerous.
The nearest creature had almost reached him, using its elongated arms to pull itself up the last few meters of cliff face. With a swift motion of his newly transformed limb, Adrian struck.
Purple blood sprayed as three deep gashes opened across the creature's body. The impact and injury sent it tumbling off the precipice. A distant crash echoed moments later as it hit the trees below.
Adrian stared in disbelief at his hand—now alien to him, covered in fine quills and ending in curved claws that gleamed with purplish ichor. He shifted his attention to the other creatures advancing up the cliff face.
Before he could move to engage them, he sensed movement behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Gherta with a determined smile playing across her lips. In one of her hands danced blue flames, casting eerie shadows across her face in the twilight gloom.
"Looks like I made it just in time," she said, the flames intensifying as she stepped forward to join him.
Gherta hurled the azure flame in her hand toward the advancing creatures. Upon impact, it erupted into a brilliant blue conflagration that seemed to devour the creatures' vital energy rather than their flesh. The creatures emitted high-pitched wails as the otherworldly fire clung to their bodies, sapping their strength rather than burning through their skin.
Adrian whistled in appreciation, glancing toward Gherta. She returned a confident smile and began tracing intricate symbols in the air with her fingers, azure energy trailing behind her movements like luminescent smoke.
"I should be able to throw one of these about every thirty seconds," Gherta called, concentration etched on her face. "Think you can keep them away from us until then?"
Adrian examined his transformed hand, looked back at the creatures now hesitating as they observed their burning kin, and sighed deeply. There was no choice—he was the only thing standing between these aberrations and his friends. With a nod of determination, he moved closer to the cliff edge.
The closest creature recovered from its momentary hesitation and launched itself forward, using its elongated arms to propel its body with frightening speed. Adrian reacted instinctively, raising his transformed arm as both shield and weapon. The creature's claws scraped against the quill-like protrusions covering his forearm, sending vibrations of pain up to his shoulder but failing to penetrate deeply.
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With a grunt, Adrian swept his clawed hand in a wide arc, catching the creature across what passed for its chest. Purple ichor sprayed in a wide arc as the creature stumbled backward, its movements suddenly sluggish from the wound.
Adrian pressed his advantage, driving forward with a second strike that opened the creature's throat.
More creatures were cresting the cliff edge now, their numbers overwhelming. Adrian tried to keep them at bay, slashing with his transformed arm, but they were too many. As he focused on one attacker, two others flanked him. Razor-sharp claws raked across his back and shoulder, tearing through his cardigan and shirt to gouge furrows in his flesh. White-hot pain flared along his spine, nearly dropping him to his knees. Blood—his blood—spattered against the rocky ground beneath him.
"Are you alright?" Gherta called, still working on her next attack.
Adrian felt a strange warmth spreading across his wounded back—not the heat of blood, but something else. Something healing. The Anima Ferrea was already repairing the damage, knitting flesh and sealing wounds with astonishing speed.
"I'll live," he called back, amazed at how clear his voice sounded despite the pain. "Just keep those flames coming!"
Three more creatures appeared at the cliff edge, climbing with unnerving coordination. Adrian braced himself, his transformed arm held defensively before him. He needed a strategy beyond simply slashing—these things were too fast, too numerous.
"Ten more seconds!" Gherta called.
Adrian's mind raced through possibilities. His arm was both shield and sword—perhaps he could use it more efficiently. As the first creature lunged, Adrian deliberately turned sideways, minimizing his profile. The creature's attack glanced off his protected forearm. In the same fluid motion, Adrian twisted his entire body into a full spin, his claws sweeping in a wide arc. The momentum turned his counterattack into a devastating whirlwind, slashing through all three creatures that had begun to surround him.
Shrieks rang out as the creatures reeled, two stumbling back with deep gashes, the third crashing to the ground with its limb nearly severed. The opening bought Adrian a precious moment of reprieve. He could feel his body adapting to the combat, muscles moving with increasing coordination, instincts sharpening with each exchange. The philosopher was receding, and something else—something primal and ferocious—was taking his place.
"Now!" Gherta shouted.
Adrian dropped flat against the ground as another azure fireball sailed over him, striking the cluster of creatures at the cliff edge. The blue flames spread unnaturally, clinging to the creatures and sapping their strength. One lost its grip and plummeted to the forest below, while the others writhed in apparent agony as their vital energy was drained.
Using the distraction, Adrian pushed forward, approaching the cliff edge to meet the next wave.
His transformed arm was becoming more familiar with each passing moment, the alien appendage responding to his will with increasing precision. He slashed at an approaching creature, his claws meeting resistance as they carved through its tough hide. Purple blood sprayed across the rocks, making the footing treacherous.
Too many creatures were coming at once now. Adrian fought desperately, but couldn't keep them all at bay. One creature's claws raked across his shoulder and chest, cutting deep. Pain blossomed, bright and terrible, as blood soaked through the remnants of his white shirt.
Adrian stumbled, nearly losing his footing on the increasingly slick ground. A creature pressed its advantage, both arms raised for a killing blow. In desperation, Adrian thrust his clawed hand forward, not as a slash but as a straight punch. The force drove his transformed claws directly into the creature's torso. It convulsed around his embedded arm, then went still.
With a grunt of effort, Adrian extracted his blood-slicked claws from the corpse, shoving the lifeless body over the cliff edge to crash into its advancing kin.
As he stood panting, he could feel the Anima Ferrea working again, sealing his wounds.
The pain receded to a dull throb, then to a peculiar itching sensation as new flesh formed.
"Adrian, they're regrouping!" Gherta called. "I need another fifteen seconds!"
Five creatures now stood at the cliff edge, watching with what might have been primitive calculation. They were learning, adapting to the humans' tactics. Rather than attacking individually, they began advancing together, their movements synchronized.
Adrian felt a chill of fear. He couldn't fight five at once, not in this confined space. He needed something more than just claws and quills.
"Essence," he muttered to himself. "I need to use my Essence more effectively."
Drawing on his limited understanding of the Anima Ferrea ability, Adrian concentrated on his transformed arm. He envisioned the quills growing longer, more like spines than fur, creating a more effective barrier. To his amazement, the transformation began immediately—the quills elongating into formidable spikes capable of impaling anything that struck them.
The lead creature reached him, swinging both arms in a scissoring attack meant to catch him between its claws. Adrian raised his transformed arm—now bristling with spines—and the creature's attack impaled its own limbs on the defensive protrusions. It shrieked in pain as Adrian twisted, tearing the creature's arms and sending it careening into its companions.
"Now, Gherta!" he shouted.
Another azure fireball flew over his shoulder, striking the tangle of creatures with devastating effect. The blue flames spread voraciously, feeding on their vital energy. Two creatures had caught the fire directly in the face. In a desperate attempt to extinguish the flames, they rolled and twisted across the rocky surface—only to collide with another creature still climbing. The impact dislodged it, sending it screaming as it tumbled off the edge into the abyss.
Adrian didn't wait for them to recover. He charged forward, his transformed arm held before him like a battering ram. The spines caught one creature mid-chest, impaling it deeply. The other attempted to claw at Adrian's face, but he ducked beneath the attack and ripped upward with his claws, opening the creature from sternum to throat.
As the last creature fell, Adrian stood amidst the carnage, his breath coming in ragged gasps. His clothes hung in blood-soaked tatters, and though his wounds had mostly closed, his body ached from the effort of regeneration. The ground was slick with purplish ichor, the bodies of the creatures already beginning to dissolve into the same substance.
"I think that's all of them," he called back to Gherta, who stood a few paces behind him.
"For now," she replied grimly. "But look."
She pointed further down the cliff face. In the growing darkness of twilight, countless more shapes could be seen moving among the trees below, gradually making their way toward the cliff. From the depths came a distant chittering sound—more creatures, awakening to the presence of intruders.
Adrian glanced at Gherta, then at his transformed arm. The spines and claws were slowly retracting, returning to their quill-like state as he unconsciously reduced his Essence expenditure. He could feel the drain on his energy from maintaining the transformation and healing his wounds.
Adrian and Gherta stood in silence for a moment. The air was thick with tension, yet for now, there was an eerie, almost surreal stillness.
Adrian took a deep breath, feeling the weight of exhaustion in every muscle. His arm, grotesquely transformed during the battle, was slowly returning to its original form. The retractable spines disappeared, and the razor-sharp claws dissolved back into human flesh. He flexed his fingers, both awed and slightly disturbed by how easily his body adapted.
"I never imagined magic would involve so much... math," Gherta murmured beside him, drawing symbols in the air with her fingers. Trails of blue light hung before her like glowing equations. "But it’s fascinating, in a way. Like everything’s part of a puzzle."
Adrian offered a faint smile. "Well, you’ve always been good at puzzles."
Gherta nodded, her expression softening. “And you, apparently, finally learned how to throw a punch.”
Before he could reply, a notification flared in his mind—so sudden he nearly stumbled.
[Level up - Anima Ferrea (Level 2)]
Adrian blinked in surprise as more information flooded his vision:
[13 enemies (Rank F) defeated. Reward: 4 Anima.]
"Four Anima?" he muttered, confused. "What does that even mean?"
"What is it?" Gherta asked, catching his puzzled expression.
"Nothing—just... a notification," he said, still trying to process everything. "It says I earned something called Anima. And my skill got up a level."
"Anima?" Gherta frowned. "Maybe it’s a kind of resource or currency. You should ask the system."
“I know that is a Resorce, just...” Adrian nodded and closed his eyes, focusing. "Status," he thought, summoning his info panel.
A translucent screen appeared before his eyes, neatly divided into sections:
Paths Chosen:
Ki (1)
Pneuma (1)
Name: Adrian Esperia
Essence: 78/100
Anima: 4
Enhancements: 0
Attributes:
Strength: 12
Dexterity: 12
Vitality: 30
Endurance: 20
Focus: 45
Spirit: 8 (28)
Perception: 7
Adrian frowned at the Essence value. "That doesn’t make sense," he murmured. "I should be nearly drained after that fight."
"What’s wrong?" Gherta asked, noticing his furrowed brow.
“It’s just... my status. I feel exhausted, but the numbers don’t show it. And I now have the four units of Anima.” He paused, rubbing his temples. “I’m sure it’s connected to my ability somehow, but it’s hard to think straight after nearly getting torn apart by monkey-devil-bats.”
Gherta studied him with concern.
"I’m fine," he replied, forcing a smile. "Just... shaken. But not as badly as I thought. What about you?"
Before she could answer, a strange sound echoed behind them—a deep, resonant mix of growl and song. They turned slowly, and what they saw froze Adrian’s blood.
A massive snout, vaguely reptilian, began to emerge from the rift behind them.
Which combination of abilities do you think Gherta chose, based on the description?