187, 176, and 203, Kyle thought, reviewing his progress. He expected to see a bit of a jump simply based on the attribute points he gained from his levels, and his results hadn’t disappointed. Of course, there was no substitute for simply putting in the practice. One of the few benefits to being stranded in an unknown location on an alien world was that he would have plenty of time to himself to practice. With the likelihood of a months-long delay in his rescue, he’d make the most of it.
[YOU ARE MAKING SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS, DR. MAYHEW.]
“Thank you, C.H.A.D.D. How are things on your end?”
[I HAVE COMPLETED AN AUDIT OF OUR SEEDS, MANY HAVE BEEN USED UP, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THOSE THAT ARE FOOD-PRODUCING. WHEN YOU HAVE SOME TIME, I WOULD LIKE TO BORROW SOME MORE MANA TO BEGIN REPLENISHING OUR STORES.]
“I can definitely do that. How much will you need?” Kyle asked.
[YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO SUPPLY EVERYTHING THAT’S NEEDED WITH 2 TO 3 HOURS OF EXCESS DRAIN, OR WE COULD DO SMALLER AMOUNTS OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS.]
Kyle checked his mana, which was currently running a bit low after his training. He could always use Ignition to bypass that problem, but given the bright red light the skill emitted, he decided against it. “Let’s get you topped off first thing in the morning.”
[THEN WE WILL SPEAK OF IT THEN, DR. MAYHEW. WHAT OTHER INSTRUCTIONS DO YOU HAVE FOR ME?]
“All I would ask is that you alert me if you detect anything approaching. I’m mostly concerned about a squad teleporting in from Er’Mithren, although if anything else noteworthy gets on your radar.”
[UNDERSTOOD. GET SOME REST, DR. MAYHEW.]
“Thanks, C.H.A.D.D.” Kyle looked out of the crevice into the night beyond. He could just make out a sliver of night sky above, where the 2 moons, the larger red and smaller blue, were passing through the darkness. He watched them for a while, sitting in silence. His goal tomorrow would be to scout the area around the ruins to get a better sense of his location. If he didn’t find anything interesting, he planned to break past the warded door, then continue on his way.
Just as he was about to fall asleep, a thunderous roar echoed through the hills and ruins. The bellow persisted for several seconds, and Kyle was on full alert. Quietly, he whispered to C.H.A.D.D. “What was that?”
[I DO NOT – WAIT, 2 PRESENCES JUST ENTERED MY SCANNER RANGE. ONE IS A GOBLIN, GIVING THE MANA SIGNATURE OF AN EARLY-TIER AWAKENED. THE OTHER IS… SOMETHING I HAVE NOT SEEN BEFORE. BASED ON ITS SIZE, I HYPOTHESIZE IT IS THE SOURCE OF THE SCREAM.]
“Is the goblin leading it?” Kyle asked, his mind immediately jumping to the worst possibility – a group of Er’Mithren hunters using beasts to track him.
[IN A MANNER OF SPEAKING. ALTHOUGH BASED ON ITS ATTACKS, IT DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE CONSENSUAL.]
C.H.A.D.D. then projected an image before Kyle, of a goblin holding some type of basket running away from a comically large behemoth. Going off the scale the drone provided, the creature looked to be between 8 and 10 meters tall. Its proportions were similar to a gorilla, with long, thick front arms and relatively short back legs. That was where the comparison ended, as the creature also had large bone spikes jutting out of its back, and a vestigial tail behind it. It had no neck or head that Kyle could see, instead sporting 2 sets of eyes, one up in front of its face, the others appearing on its shoulders, giving it a wide range of vision. A large, gaping maw with uneven fangs made lunging bites at the goblin, who appeared to be running for their life.
[IT HAS ALREADY GAINED SIGNIFICANT GROUND ON THE GOBLIN. EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE HEADING THIS WAY, IT IS UNLIKELY THE GOBLIN SURVIVES LONG ENOUGH TO MAKE IT NEAR YOUR HIDING SPOT.]
Kyle considered that for a moment. He could choose to lay low, and things would probably turn out okay for him. He could feel the creature now through Auric Perception, giving off a strong D Grade aura. It was powerful, though from what Kyle could see, likely a bad matchup for him. And whether or not the goblin was friend or foe, Kyle could learn some valuable information from them.
He stepped out of the crevice, evaluating his mana reserves. A little over half, and Ignition should top off the rest. With that thought, he felt the power flow through him as he activated his skill and dashed toward the fleeing goblin and its pursuer.
The moment they came into view, Kyle got a proper look at both the goblin and its pursuer with Identify. The goblin was using an agility boosting skill, and as C.H.A.D.D. noted, was probably in the middle levels of E Grade, perhaps just having gotten their Level 40 skill.
The behemoth, on the other hand, was on the high end of D Grade, likely outstripping Kyle by more than a handful of levels. What really drew his attention, however, were the creature’s attribute distributions. It’s Intelligence and Willpower were imperceptible, so low that Identify didn’t give a single impression of the attributes. Dexterity and Perception were in a normal range, with Endurance being just a bit beyond them.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
No, what gave Kyle pause was its astronomical Strength and Vitality. It likely had more points into Strength than most early D Grades had total attribute points, and Vitality was a level even beyond that. What is this thing, Kyle wondered. He’d never heard of a creature this lopsided in terms of growth before, something that was truly mindless, while also being this powerful. He refocused as the creature turned toward him, a gleaming crimson beacon in the otherwise dark landscape. It bellowed again, its voice physically painful, then turned from the goblin it was chasing to run directly toward Kyle.
As it closed in, Kyle got a good look at its pale-green skin, mottled with patches of darker green and yellow, and noticed for the first time a tuft of black hair over its smaller set of eyes. Despite himself, he was revolted. The longer he looked at this creature, the more grotesque it appeared. That was all the time he had to think, as a tree-trunk sized limb came crashing toward him.
He activated Storm Shelter, the creature’s fist slamming into it with incredible force. The air itself shook with the impact, and Kyle was surprised to see a web of cracks open up on the shield where the creature struck it. This was the first time a D Grade had enough pure physical power to overwhelm his shield without using powerful boosting skills or offensive techniques.
Of course, that didn’t mean it got away unscathed. The hand that struck the barrier had been bent backward at an unnatural angle, a mess of blood and exposed bone clear to see. If the injury bothered the monstrosity, it didn’t show it as its other arm came crashing in, widening the network of cracks. A third blow followed a fraction of a second later, this time using its injured arm. Blood spattered all across the shield as the beast howled, and Kyle was left momentarily baffled. What kind of bloodlust is this, that it’s willing to destroy itself to kill someone it just met?
Storm Shelter was in a truly wretched state now, but it had done its job. Already, tendrils of Parasitic Resonance had invaded the creature, and Kyle felt no qualms about using it in a case like this. If he was lucky, the Core of the Parasitic Devourer would find this creature appetizing, and if he could hunt enough of them in this region, he would get an Adaptive Anatomy benefit to either Strength or Vitality. His initial upgrades to each were helpful, but more than anything else served to keep him moving in circumstances where he’d be otherwise crippled. With the magnitude of the other benefits he’d received in this second tier, he looked forward to seeing a more substantial boost.
The moment before Storm Shelter broke apart, Kyle pulled with all his Willpower. Against the behemoth’s nonexistent Willpower, he encountered no resistance at all. He focused his attack behind the creature’s eyes, where he assumed the brain would be, as well as in its chest cavity, hoping to shut down its internal organs for good measure. He felt the devastation as his skill did its work.
And then… nothing. The bloody stump of the creature’s hand careened straight toward him, and with a flash of panic, Kyle realized that it hadn’t slowed down one bit.
[YOU MAY WANT TO DODGE, DR. MAYHEW.]
C.H.A.D.D. spoke at a highly accelerated pace, and Kyle barely ducked under the swing, only to be caught by the monster’s elbow as it violently turned. Kyle tasted blood in his mouth as he felt ribs crack, before being thrown dozens of meters into the night sky. He pressed his hands to his torso as he activated Healing Impetus, wincing as he felt the bones begin to mend.
Looking at the creature, Kyle’s eyes widened in shock as he saw bones simply falling out of its broken hands, with new fingers being grown at a visible pace behind them. Blood trickled out of one of the forward eyes and its slitted nose. Already, the bleeding slowed before his eyes. The goblin was nowhere to be seen, and the creature had its full attention on Kyle. It let out another blood-curdling scream, and then dashed straight for him.
“C.H.A.D.D., can you give me a scan of its internal structure? I must have missed its vitals.” There was a note of tension in Kyle’s voice, watching as the beast closed in on his location with murder in its expression.
The drone obliged, pulling up an image in the top-left corner of Kyle’s vision.
[PRELIMINARY SCANS INDICATE DAMAGE TO THE BRAIN, LUNGS, KIDNEYS, AND HEART. HOWEVER, IT APPEARS AS THOUGH OTHER REDUNDANT SYSTEMS KEPT THE CREATURE STABLE LONG ENOUGH FOR ITS HEALING FACTOR TO STEP IN.]
Kyle was almost on the ground, and with the behemoth bearing down on him, he knew he had to buy time. He used a blast of Repel, slowing its momentum while pushing him another 5 or 6 meters away, allowing him to land on his feet and maintain distance with Ignition.
“What do you mean, ‘redundant systems?’ How does it have a redundant brain?” Kyle asked in confusion, narrowly sidestepping another flurry of attacks as he once again set himself up to attack with Parasitic Resonance.
[IT APPEARS AS THOUGH MANY OF THE NEURAL FUNCTIONS PROVIDED BY THE BRAIN ARE REPLICATED WITHIN VARIOUS OTHER PARTS OF THE BODY. I WAS UNABLE TO PINPOINT EXACT LOCATIONS, BUT AT NO POINT DID ALL OF ITS VITAL FUNCTIONS CEASE, DESPITE YOUR ATTACK.]
Kyle ducked under a big swing, this time darting past the beast’s range, emerging behind it. If his last attempt wasn’t enough, he’d just have to give Parasitic Resonance more time to work. The monster had a veritable wellspring of mana, and Kyle greedily drained it to keep his own reserves topped off while his skill invaded every aspect of the creature’s mana network.
Once behind the creature, he found it was relatively simple work to stay behind it. His superior speed and mobility, courtesy of Ignition, made it difficult for the lumbering beast to turn. They continued this dance for what felt like minutes, Kyle trying to stay behind the monster while it tried to turn around and catch him.
Its hands were fully reformed by now, a feat that was mind-boggling to Kyle. To be able to regenerate not just the flesh, but the bones and nerves as well? Kyle never heard of healing skills with that type of ability below C Grade, and even then, they were considered rare.
His fascination almost cost him, barely noticing as the mana flowing through the creature abruptly shifted. It’s using a skill, he realized, and he instinctively jumped back, too slow to try and disrupt it. Less than a second later, the spines on the creatures back erupted into dozens of spears of bone, all fired behind it like a shotgun.
The bones themselves were infused with a negligible amount of energy, though the sheer force with which they were expelled made them dangerous. Kyle sidestepped several, parrying others with the buckler he formed on his left arm. Of course, now the ground was littered with sharp bone spears. While each didn’t present a major threat to Kyle, they did their job. They slowed him down.
He nearly tripped on one, despite his Covert Dexterity, which bought the behemoth enough time to finish its spin, a massive hand aimed directly at Kyle’s head.
