Shit! Eric exclaimed in his mind. The fuck is going on here?

  The dust began to clear, revealing the figures of the two who had fallen down into the intersection. Is that a… lizardman? he asked, unsure due to a slight blur in his vision that appeared after he stopped feeling like his eyes were melting. Turning his head to the other figure, he was equally unsure. A woman? A sudden chill assaulted him, almost as if in response to his thoughts. A… cold… woman? he corrected.

  “Hey!” a shout came from behind, snapping Eric free of his thoughts. The shout caused the two figures to turn and face the speaker, their demeanor was not one of curiosity, but one of warning.

  “Everybody, please, calm down,” another voice said, much calmer and feminine. A third figure suddenly appeared between the two, holding up her hands in a placating gesture. “My friend,” the woman gestured behind her, “means well. So, please, let’s all just calm down.”

  “Don’t speak for—”

  “Shut the fuck up!” the feminine voice said, her tone much rougher.

  The cold woman, without turning, spoke softly but firmly. “I believe that before we continue speaking,” the cold woman began, turning slightly, “we should clear the rubble,” she finished, now facing in Eric’s direction.

  At the exact same moment that Eric realized that she was facing him, she vanished. A small cloud of dust remained, freezing and crackling in the air. Eric moved on instinct, trying to jump away, only for him feel a cold hand wrap around his neck, freezing him in place.

  The pain was excruciating. Eric had never experienced frostbite, but if he had, he would’ve known that what he was experiencing was several times worse. His body screamed in agony as the frost began to spread across his skin. Through sheer willpower, Eric forced his gaze downward, glaring at the woman who had him in her grip.

  Rate of infestation: 95%.

  “Your eyes,” she said, her voice serene and soothing, though not in a good way, it was as if death was coming to welcome you. “They’re different. Why?”

  Before Eric could even think about answering an intense heat began to assault him. A scaled hand wrapped around the cold woman’s arm and forced it down, the grip around Eric’s throat became looser and he was set free.

  Rate of infestation: 89%.

  “The fact that you failed to notice is an embarrassment,” a crackling voice like embers said. “He’s not affected by the spores.”

  With her expression as cold as when she first appeared, she focused intently on Eric, who was gasping for air. And a new sensation poked at the edge of her mind.

  Eric’s lungs were fighting for air, the cold had reached deep enough to affect their functioning. His body, almost in a state of panic and overreacting, demanded air. Wait, Eric thought, fighting through the rising panic. I don’t need it that much. I don’t. I don’t. And just like that, his intense gasping for air slowed, allowing him to calm down.

  Rate of infestation: 82%.

  With a much calmer state of mind, Eric could feel that the cold and heat that were assaulting him, were also attacking the spores that infected his body. It made him marvel at his new body once more. The fact that the heat and cold was enough to kill something within him but not actually harm him nearly as much, was just a testament to his body’s durability.

  Slowly rising to his feet and coughing to dispel any itching and awkwardness that remained, he stood face to face with the cold woman and the lizardman, both of their eyes locked on him.

  “How are you still… conscious?” the cold woman asked, her face unreadable.

  “Yes, how?” the lizardman also asked, his face was also unreadable, but that was more because he was completely different from a human and had none of the expression markers that Eric knew.

  Eric coughed to the side a few times. “I don’t know,” he answered, massaging his neck. “But can you both,” he gestured for them to back away, “just a bit.”

  The lizardman narrowed his eyes, it was subtle but not enough to go unnoticed. After a brief moment of consideration, both the lizardman and the cold woman took a couple of steps back. Something poked at the edges of their minds, though neither knew what it was. From the side, footsteps were heard, someone was getting closer.

  “Wait!” a voice exclaimed. “You’re that guy from earlier, the one who couldn’t control his body.” The speaker came into focus. He was a young, but rough looking young man. His entire appearance screamed “pirate,” he even had a tattoo, but Eric couldn’t see it well. “I have so many questions,” the pirate added.

  “Is he the one that was trapped?” a feminine voice said, the roughness that she displayed earlier having vanished completely.

  The pirate turned to face the speaker, allowing Eric to get a better look at his tattoo. It was a skull with its mouth open, with what appeared to be the bottom of a small staff exiting it. There was also a snake that was moving through the eye sockets, exited its mouth and wrapped itself around the staff.

  The tattoo gave Eric this strange image of a death doctor but considering that the man in front of him was very clearly a pirate, he didn’t know how the two related to each other.

  Deadly medicine… Eric though and as soon as the first thought came to him, he arrived at the most likely conclusion, poison.

  A complete conversation that was devoid of words, was exchanged between the approaching pirate and woman, entirely through their gaze alone.

  This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

  “Are we just…” the lizardman muttered, facing the cold woman.

  The cold woman, who was staring at the approaching pair, faced the lizardman and made a small shrug.

  Eric, glancing between the two pairs, focused on the one that was nearest. “Do you guys know each other?” he asked, his throat now fine and whatever fear that he should be feeling, was nowhere to be found.

  The lizardman, facing Eric, narrowed his eyes. “You, you don’t fear me?” he asked, a hint amusement appearing in his eyes.

  “Should I?” Eric asked, curious as to why.

  “Wait,” the cold woman said.

  “What?” the lizardman asked.

  “Why are we talking?” she asked, her expression finally changing, becoming one of concern. That which was at the edge of her mind slowly became clear.

  “What do you mean?” the lizardman asked in a mocking tone. “How else are… we…” He stopped talking, concern overtaking him. He too was gaining clarity.

  “Name’s Mercer,” the pirate looking man said, walking between the lizardman and the cold woman. “What’s yours?”

  “Eric,” he replied, ignoring the handshake and gesturing towards the lizardman and cold woman. “Are they... okay?”

  A voice came from behind Mercer. “They were trying to kill each other a couple minutes ago, so I doubt it.” the feminine voice said. “I’m Wu Ling.”

  Completely ignoring the small exchange between the three, the temperature began to both increase and decrease, separating the intersection into two. Crackling could be heard from one side as the roots and foliage that were in the tunnels began to burn. On the other side, a similar crackling could be heard, but this was due to all the foliage breaking almost immediately upon freezing.

  Eric could feel himself being targeted, two distinct entities were targeting him for some reason that was unknown to him, but this time, he was far more alert. With a swift and powerful movement, he jumped forward from where he was.

  After landing some meters in front of where he was previously, an explosion of ice and fire occurred, leaving nothing but charred remains.

  Mercer and Wu Ling both disappeared from where they had been standing mere moments ago and appeared near the tunnel that he had been heading to when he was still following the foliage covered figures.

  Mercer, clutching his scorched arm, winced in pain. “Sorry brother,” he grunted, “we can’t help you here.” Turning to Wu Ling, he accepted her help and both of them advanced into the tunnel, disappearing from sight.

  Clicking his tongue, Eric quickly glanced back to his two attackers. “What the fuck is your problem!” he shouted, anger rising from within, both his and from that unknown source.

  First came a downward kick from the lizardman, causing the ground to erupt in a shower of molten rocks. Even though Eric managed to dodge the kick, he was still struck by various pieces of flying debris, burning his skin.

  Before he even landed, an elbow was coming for his face. He sent his mana surging, directing it to his mana ring, and a sword that he had gotten from the Ondal, appeared on his left hand.

  Turning the sword downward, the elbow impacted against the blade at the same time that the tip dug into the ground and pushed him back, his back hitting against the roots that covered the wall.

  He could feel his entire arm tremble, but he didn’t have the time to wallow in the sensation, as they were rushing him once more.

  Dodging blow after blow, and blocking those that he couldn’t, his sword cried out, begging for relief, but it wouldn’t come. Eric didn’t have a single chance to counterattack, at best he had enough time to block attacks at the last minute whenever he failed to dodge them and even that was overwhelming.

  But it wasn’t all bad. During the exchange, he could once more feel the tug of the System and not only was he sure that his sword mastery was increasing, but he could also feel it. The diverting of attacks, the speed at which he raised the sword, everything was becoming smoother.

  Aren’t masteries also skills? he asked himself, unsure of how he increased his skill proficiency when it was supposed to be disabled. Somehow falling into a flow state as he dodged attacks, he sensed differences in his grip and sword movements. They’re… weaker? How is that—why is that—huh?

  His thoughts were disrupted, he wasn’t the only one who was speeding up, in fact, he was lagging behind. The opponents he faced had been cautious at first, not out of fear, at least it didn’t seem that way. Their expressions were very highbrow, as if everything was beneath them, so, reading them was hard.

  But if Eric had to guess… It’s the fact that we’re underground, he thought, quickly glancing around. However, no matter where he looked, the entire intersection, as large as it was, had been completely destroyed. There was nowhere he could go that would allow him to stand firm, or even step on without suffering some damage.

  Even now, when he only blocked or dodged but hadn’t actually been hit yet, his skin was already burnt and frostbitten. And it was only getting worse.

  While Eric was distracted for only an instant, his two opponents turned serious. They had already wasted too much time afraid of there being another floor underneath the one they were on. Having done sufficient damage that they no longer had to be as cautious, they finally turned serious.

  Eric was distracted for an instant and the lizardman took advantage of said instant. Increasing his body temperature to his limits, his expression turning aggressive, as if he was seeing something that shouldn’t be allowed to exist, he darted forward. Approaching Eric with great speed and without any fanfare, any special techniques, or secret treasures, he punched a hole through Eric’s side. But Eric felt nothing. The searing heat of the strike had instantly cauterized the wound, burning away the nerve endings responsible for pain. The only sensation left was a dull, numbing pressure as blood failed to flow from the wound.

  The cold woman was undergoing a similar internal transformation. A second after the lizardman launched himself forward, she followed suit. With the lizardman’s arm still inside Eric’s side, she reached for Eric’s throat, froze it and then squeezed with far more force than needed, shattering almost half of it. Blood froze in the air, stopping any further loss.

  Rate of infestation: 68%.

  “Why...?” Eric managed to eke out, his voice hoarse and weak. He could feel the frost permeate through his neck, the cold slowly invading every fiber of his being.

  Retrieving their arms, the two exchanged glances, coming to an understanding and jumped out of the hole they had made, ignoring Eric and his question completely.

  Eric glared at the two as they left, powerless to do anything else. The anger that he felt hadn’t helped him at all. It didn’t push him beyond his limits, nor did it impart some wisdom that would allow him to survive.

  No, nothing would’ve helped me, Eric thought. The difference was too great. Forget two, I wouldn’t have lasted long against a single one. He let out a light chuckle, accompanied by a flood a blood. Resigned, Eric closed his eyes, waiting for unconsciousness to arrive.

  …

  …

  …

  But it never came. Not only did it never come, but something that he thought wasn’t possible appeared before him.

  Bloodline assimilation increased!

  ????????????????: 36%

  ----------

  “What was that Neris?” the lizardman said, as he and the cold woman ran toward the portal, having reached a truce, his voice crackling with anger.

  “I know as much as you do, Kralva,” Neris said, remarking his name. “On that topic,” her calm and indifferent voice became tense, “did you even notice him affecting you?”

  “I don’t think even he knew what he was doing,” Kralva answered, his tone unchanged. “Though that doesn’t make him innocent. He dares influence me.” The magma in his eyes raged against the limits of his iris, threatening to break free. “We must leave the tower and find the one responsible!”

  “Agreed,” Neris said, picking up the pace.

  Its impossible that someone that could influence someone as great as her could coincidently enter the tower at the same time. Their very existence couldn’t be a coincidence, they must have planned this for decades, if not centuries.

  She gasped in surprise. Perhaps… before my birth? Her mind was racing with possibilities. Who could be targeting me?

  If you have any suggestions of what you'd like to see, characters or plot points that you're curious about, please let me know in the comments. And if you can, please drop a rating or review, good or bad, I want to know how I'm doing and your feedback is the best indicator.

  Once again, thank you for reading.

  If you wish to support me: