I let out a rather embarrassing scream as I jolted up from the ground and looked around frantically, confusion pulsing through me as I realized that I was totally intact. I felt the grass and dirt below my hands like normal, but as I turned my head to the left I noted the charred and still dissolving remains of what I assumed was my old body, the acid not even leaving behind bones.

  I hummed to myself and considered my claws and intact skin. It was almost as if I had regenerated entirely upon reviving, but… Reviving had never really worked like that before… Though I guess I couldn’t really complain. It definitely beat having to slowly regenerate from some half torso or torn off limb, but… At the same time it was really odd to me that I had been forced to regenerate entirely. After all, shouldn’t I have leveled up several times from killing the einha and been healed entirely?

  I frowned and looked around until my eyes landed on the einha. Their guts and insides had spilled out all over the ground, but… they weren’t dead yet. I could see the red trail that had been left behind by them as they had dragged themselves further and further away, desperately trying to get somewhere away from me. It was sad to see the once mighty beast on its last legs, but as I looked at the shivers running through its body and the continuing stream of blood that was pooling around it, I knew that its life was ending here soon.

  I sighed and glanced around the forest and trees half expecting to see the archer at some point, either because they were here to pick me off or if it was because they had heard the death throes of the einha, but for whatever reason they were still nowhere to be seen. Almost as if they had left the forest entirely for some reason.

  I sighed and flopped back for a moment. Honestly, was that really even something I wanted? What would I even do if they were here? Just their pet was enough to defeat me… and some part of me told me that I still hadn’t seen them going all out.

  I shook my head and sighed. I wasn’t even sure if I was ever going to see them again, but that was a problem for later. Right now, the biggest problem I was facing was how the fuck I was going to get back to town. Not to mention what the hell I was going to do against the Richter’s.

  I groaned and rolled over, flopping on my back and glaring at the half decayed body of the beast, “Stupid fucking bastard… the least you can do is just die already! Go on! Stop forcing yourself to sit through all of this pain and misery!”

  The beast groaned and weakly lashed out with its tendril at me, but it fell just short since I’d already rolled out of its range. I coughed and sat up, propping myself on my elbows as I stared the beast down. At this point, I really was sure that the Richter’s must’ve swooped in after or during my fight with the einha and captured the archer. That must’ve been their plan from the beginning. Capture and weaken the archer, which would explain why they had called the beast instead of just dealing with me themselves, and then swoop in after the archer had dealt with me, claim that they had been too late to save me, and then take all that sweet reward money for themselves. The extra bribe from the archer probably made everything all the sweeter.

  I eyed the beast and sighed. It was a fair enough tactic honestly. Unfortunately for them, my death’s favored ability gave me a free ride back to the land of the living. Apparently entirely intact too.

  I grunted and sprung to my feet, looking around for any broken arrows or other items that I could see. After a moment I saw one of the massive arrows that had been shot at me, and I laughed as I scooped it up. It was a bit light, but it should work perfectly for what I had in mind. After all, the damned thing was already on the edge of its own death bed…

  Right on cue, the einha weakly roared again, but even I could hear the acceptance in its voice. It knew it was beaten, even if it was going to fight me until the end. It didn’t want to just roll over and die from blood loss. It wanted to die a warrior's death. It was a respectable wish if nothing else… and I could respect that.

  I sighed and began to make my way over to where the einha was curled up. I had thought that I would enjoy killing the beast, but as I walked forward, I couldn’t help but feel regret. As much as I needed to kill the einha, I knew it was just following orders. Just being obedient to its master. Even if that same master was a prick… It wasn't its fault that it ended up facing me.

  As I got closer, the einha growled and lashed at me again, but it was still unable to hit me. I eyed it and hummed again, before glancing down at the sharp glint of the arrowtip. I really hoped that this was going to be enough to kill the poor creature… it deserved a clean death if nothing else.

  Weakly, the einha lashed out again, but I was able to duck and dodge the swipes pretty easily now. It was just that weak. I bared my teeth at it, and for the first time, I thought I saw… fear in its strikes. And yet… more than that I saw a cold determination. To fight with all of its strength, until it could no longer.

  I chuckled and shook my head as I got ever closer to the beast, having to move quicker and quicker as the strikes became even faster and faster. Then the einha rumbled and shook itself, its thick muscles shivering with noticeable pain from the movement. It rumbled and shifted its legs and stabbed its tendrils into the ground, tugging and pulling itself forward. Slowly, ever so slowly, it dragged itself not towards, but away from me, its body making a massive furrow into the ground.

  At the sight, I couldn’t help but stop for a moment, my mouth hanging wide as I momentarily forgot about what I had been thinking. This little… this little shit was trying to get away from me! And right after the respect I had just been willing to give to them! Really!? They turned out to be a coward in the end!?

  I roared in anger and activated Berserker’s rage, my vision going red as I slammed my foot into the ground, seething. This… THIS FUCK!!! I roared and stormed forward, my hand gripping the haft of the arrow so hard I felt it crack. I didn’t even notice. And if I had, I wouldn’t have even cared. All that my mind and body knew at that moment was just pure and total rage as I charged forth, my surroundings becoming background noise as my vision centered on the einha and that massive groove in the ground.

  It weakly roared as it noticed me rushing forward, and it frantically picked up its pace. Its tentacles stabbed into the ground and pulled and tugged, ripping up large pieces of earth and stone as it struggled forward wildly. It threw those massive pieces of rock at me and spewed acid, using everything at its power as it wildly scrambled away.

  Anger was all I knew, and I narrowed my eyes as rage poured hot and hard. I roared and reached out towards the void, activating blow and sending my fists into the flying rocks, knocking them aside or blowing them apart. Then I refocused on the frantically fleeing einha, and pulled deep into the void once again, activating sprint and dashing forward, covering the distance in a flash.

  The beast roared desperately and stopped trying to get away, choosing instead to lash out with its tendrils at me once again and shoot an ocean of searing acid at me. At this distance I could do nothing but watch as the wave and tentacles crashed into me, but even if I could have dodged, the rage that controlled me wouldn’t have. It insisted on the quickest path to the end of this beast, and that was forward!

  Then the tentacles and acid crashed into my body, knocking me backwards with enough force to crack my bones and force me to my knees, but my eyes never left it. The acid coated me and worked to dissolve as much skin as it could, but the rage didn’t even try to shake it off. As the tentacles wrapped around my chest and squeezed, the rage reached into the void and activated claw, slashing down and tearing an unbelievably deep wound into the tendrils that were wrapping themselves around me.

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  The einha roared in pain, but it was drowned out by the rage as it activated claw again and slashe down again, and again, and again, and again, until the crushing force that had been surrounding me suddenly vanished. It heard the thump of the tendrils falling to the ground, but it was already storming forward, forcing my feet to slam down hard on the earth as leap was activated and I flew through the air and landed on the body of the einha.

  It weakly twisted and thrashed as I scaled it, but every time I lost my footing the rage lashed out and used claw or bite in order to latch on, if only for a moment. The einha roared again, but it knew the truth. The end was near, and I was here to deliver it!

  I roared and leaped up into the air, spinning in a circle before I began falling, heading down straight for its head. I narrowed my blood red eyes and let out a manic laugh as I pointed my body like a spear and shot straight down, the rage activating pierce and using it on both of my claws. On impact with the skull of the einha, I tore straight into and through its skull, exploding out of the other side in a burst of viscera and gore.

  I slammed into the ground and felt my bones disconnect as the force of the impact crushed me, and I roared in pain. It hurt enough that for a moment the Berserker’s rage paused and I turned to look at the einha, watching as it staggered and flailed out as blood poured from its skull and the life left its eyes. Then it let out one last cry, before its entire body shook and spasmed, collapsing to its side as it went through its last death throes, before finally, thankfully, dying.

  Level up!!!

  Level up!!!

  Level up!!!

  Level up!!!

  Name: Will

  Race: Chimera

  Level: Eighteen (New!)

  Title: Einha Slayer (New!)

  Abilities:

  Enduring Heart

  Unending Vitality (Incomplete)

  Death's Favoured (Incomplete)

  Skills:

  Sprint (Veteran)

  Claw (Apprentice)(New!)

  Bite (Beginner)

  Pierce (Beginner)(New!)

  Leap (Beginner)(New!)

  Sword Slash (Trainee)

  Axe Smash (Initiate)

  Hammer Bash (Novice)

  Berserker’s Rage (Rare)(Passive)(New!)

  Spatial Awareness (Passive)

  Hardened Body (Passive)

  I gasped as I felt the multiple level ups explode through my body, the euphoric rush dragging me out of the Berserker’s Rage. I laughed and fell to my knees, placing my hands on the forest ground as pulse after pulse of healing energies crashed through my body, causing my bones and muscles to snap to attention, rejuvenated and healed.

  I rolled over onto my back and laughed wildly, my eyes flashing over to the now dead einha. Holy fuck… that had been one hell of a rush! How high of a level had that einha been? Four level ups!?

  I rolled back and pushed off the ground with my hands, springing onto my heels, a grand grin spreading across my face. Ah who cares about that stupid archer and their stupid bounty? The level ups and this amazing feeling was all the reward I needed!

  I chuckled and shook my head, clearing away some of the ecstatic rush. Ah okay, well I guess that might have been an overstatement. I’d definitely have to fuck up the Richter’s when I got the chance, but for now? Well, I was just way too weak. I had sort of had a feeling that the whole ‘eternal’ thing was a bit too good to be true in the first place, but as I looked at the glowing level up screen in front of me, I finally realized what the drawback was.

  I had been level eighteen the last time I had killed a creature hadn't I? Which means that with the four level ups and only being level eighteen now… that meant that I had lost four levels somehow. How weird… I hummed and eyed the einha's corpse, and cocked my head to the side.

  I wasn’t exactly sure about how the ability worked, but I had the feeling that the loss of levels probably had something to do with the revive ability. Though I guess I couldn't complain. It was far better to lose a level than to stay dead, but still… I really was far too weak as it was. I needed to get stronger, learn some new skills, and finally find myself a weapon, and soon. But first… I had some loot to collect!

  I rolled my neck and walked up to the corpse, stepping around the pools of steaming acid. I looked closely at its hide and slowly paced around the beast for several moments, leaping over its tentacles and the pools of blood, before I couldn’t help but let out a long, loud, sigh. This was just… hopeless. There was nothing left to use even if I really wanted to. The teeth? Smashed to bits and covered in grim and acid from that last frantic crawl. Its bones? Currently dissolving into a puddle underneath it. Same with its innards, and quite frankly, I wouldn’t be able to bring any of it back even if I wanted to. I had no clue where my bag was, and even if I did, I doubted I could carry anything that far.

  I sighed and folded my arms as I looked up at the beast's corpse. Hmm… What a massive kill… Ugh… What to do, what to do…

  I allowed my eyes to to pass back and forth over it, before finally landing exactly on what I needed, a grin spread over my face. That… that would just have to be good enough!

  With a whoop, I activated leap and blasted off of the ground, soaring over the steaming corpse in a flash. I laughed as I soared through the air, enjoying the free feeling. I loved the skill so much, but it didn't last for long before I began to fall back down to the ground, and the einha’s corpse, picking up speed as the wind rushed by me until I slammed into its head, coming down hard and using all of that momentum to kick hard at one of the smaller horns that adorned the back of its skull.

  The force of it sent a heavy thrum through my body and I heard a crack, but unfortunately it didn’t budge and I was launched flying through the air with a yelp of surprise. I twisted around and managed to catch myself on the ground, but the force and momentum caused me to stumble backwards for a few steps.

  I almost managed to get my footing too, until I tripped on a branch that had been torn up with the einha’s death throes. I yelped and fell backwards onto my ass, swinging my arms out in order to save me from cracking my skull onto the ground, but still finding myself covered in bloody mud.

  I groaned and shook my head, wiping the shit out of my eyes and shooting a glare at the einha's corpse. Fucking bastard… I can't believe that didn't even work! But I'm not just giving up now!

  I shot another glare at the corpse and activated leap, doing a much smaller hop up and snagging onto one of its other horns so I didn’t tumble off of the side of its head. I gripped hard and then swung, flying through the air and landing on its side with a thump.

  I laughed and stumbled to my feet, shaking my head as I made my way over to the half cracked horn, “Haha… Even in death you’re such a massive pain in the ass!” I growled and gripped the horn with both hands squatting down low and straining with my whole body, “Just… give… me… the… horn!”

  I roared and tore, snapping the horn off at the base with a satisfying crack. I grinned and laughed, raising it up victoriously, until I realized that I had nothing left to hold onto.

  I let out a loud curse as I flew backwards, stumbling wildly, until I lashed out and managed to catch a hold of a nearby horn and stop myself at the very last second. I let out a loud sigh, which got cut short and turned into a yelp as I felt my heel catch one of the beast's horns. I cursed as I felt myself tumble off the side of the einha’s head, crashing into the ground and knocking the breath out of my lungs.

  I groaned and shot another glare at the corpse next to me. I guess it did get the last laugh, huh? I let out a sigh and sat up, shaking my head as I curled my legs underneath me as I managed to get to my feet yet again.

  I grunted and eyed the horn in my hands curiously and shrugged after a moment. Well, at least I guess I got the trophy I wanted, and hopefully it would sell for a solid chunk. Though…

  I sighed as I looked down at myself, and my very apparent lack of clothes. The einha’s stomach acid had almost certainly dissolved what I had been wearing, and frankly I didn’t have the time or tools to try and make a replacement set. I’d have to find my bag again, but that also meant that I had to make my way back to the dungeon entrance. I doubted that the Richter’s would still be around there, since they were probably well on their way back home with the archer in tow. I hadn’t missed the looks that Darnell had been sharing with them, I just hadn’t expected him to be the kind of guy to stab me in the back.

  Ah, oh well. I’d just have to curb stomp his bitch ass later… For right now though, I just needed to find my bag. I think I had left it near the dungeon entrance before I had gone in and asked for the Richter’s help. I guess they could have stolen it, but I doubted that. Not that they would have had to look hard for it of course, but I honestly doubted that they would have gone through all the effort of finding it and stealing it, after all, I had been rather broke.

  Which meant that it was probably still there… Which was also where I needed to head off to anyways, so hey! I guess that was a little win for me, right?