Chapter 34: Chapter 34 - Pity
Pride was important to the strong. Especially to those that believed themselves stronger.
And the beast before me most definitely believed itself stronger.
So I trampled on that pride. Taunted it, knowing full well it wouldn’t stand for something weaker than it showing the kind of confidence I was.
The beast’s nostrils flared again as it huffed, this time in anger, and then it burst forward.
I didn’t swing. I didn’t move.
And the impact that followed showed me just how much it had been holding back before.
The spike of its shoulder slammed into me full force, snapping my spine immediately, then sending me crashing into the slope, roots, bark and soil exploding in all directions as my chest collapsed inwards.
[Host’s [Impact Resistance] has increased greatly: x3]
[The Skill [Enhanced Impact Resistance III] has been upgraded to [Enhanced Impact Resistance IV]]
[Host’s [Pierce Resistance] has increased greatly: x4]
[The Skill [Enhanced Pierce Resistance III] has been upgraded to [Enhanced Pierce Resistance IV]]
Even with 30% damage negation, now 40, I was mauled like a ragdoll.
But that was the whole point. I was going to use it to upgrade my Resistance skills, just like I had the Flame Toad.
Jaws clamped my shoulder, claws swiping against my legs as it shook me, tearing flesh from bone as it slammed me to the ground. My head cracked against a stone outcrop, vision whiting out for just a moment before the light bled back in, only for the beast to then re-clamp its jaws on my other shoulder to do it all again.
But just like in the fight against the Frost-Rot Centipede, somehow, my flesh knitted just barely fast enough to keep up with the beast’s assault.
[Host’s [Impact Resistance] has increased greatly: x4]
[Host’s [Pierce Resistance] has increased greatly: x4]
[Host’s [Slash Resistance] has increased greatly: x4]
[The Skill [Enhanced Slash Resistance III] has been upgraded to [Enhanced Slash Resistance IV]]
The pain was overwhelming. Bones broken. Organs collapsed. Flesh shredded to pieces---no matter how many times I went through the ordeal, it was never easier the next time around.
But it had to be done.
[Host’s [Impact Resistance] has increased greatly: x4]
[Host’s [Pierce Resistance] has increased greatly: x4]
[Host’s [Slash Resistance] has increased greatly: x4]
So I kept getting up.
[Host’s [Impact Resistance] has increased greatly: x4]
[Host’s [Pierce Resistance] has increased greatly: x4]
[Host’s [Slash Resistance] has increased greatly: x4]
Again.
[Host’s [Impact Resistance] has increased greatly: x4]
[Host’s [Pierce Resistance] has increased greatly: x4]
[Host’s [Slash Resistance] has increased greatly: x4]
And Again.
[Host’s [Impact Resistance] has increased greatly: x4]
[The Skill [Enhanced Impact Resistance IV] has been upgraded to [Enhanced Impact Resistance V]]
[Host’s [Pierce Resistance] has increased greatly: x4]
[The Skill [Enhanced Pierce Resistance IV] has been upgraded to [Enhanced Pierce Resistance V]]
[Host’s [Slash Resistance] has increased greatly: x4]
[The Skill [Enhanced Slash Resistance IV] has been upgraded to [Enhanced Slash Resistance V]]
But after the umpteenth abnormal regeneration, the beast was starting to realize the futility of its actions.
Its breaths were heavier now, and it backed a step, shoulders rolling back as it watched me stand right back up, injury be damned.
I spat teeth onto the ground, then grew new ones as I smiled at it.
Its breaths quickened. Its eyes narrowed. The Anger was starting to sharpen again.
If I let things continue as they had, it would flee.
I couldn’t allow that.
A Pity you’re so smart. 50% negation will have to do for now...But I’m afraid I’m still going to need your Core.
I focused, both hands gripping my axe so hard it trembled under the effort. I tried to remember. The anger. The hatred. That almost primal urge to destroy everything in my way.
I tugged on it once. It didn’t respond.
So I pulled it to the surface by force. I wasn’t taking ’no’ for an answer.
The strings in my core thrummed in its wake, and the mana surged immediately, shooting out into my blood vessels, burning through it all as it flooded my body with unnatural strength.
The veins along my arms glowed a bloody red, and just like before, the light crawled out, up and into the weapon in my hands that suddenly became perfectly calm. Perfectly steady.
I met the beast’s gaze, and there it was, yet another change in its yellow eyes. I knew it well.
Fear.
The mana fueled me as I burst forth at break-neck speeds, shoulders flexed, axe trailing low behind me in a crimson streak, and before it could so much as twitch, the blade had already come up to meet its mid-section.
Steel met bone as I executed a truly perfect Upwards Diagonal Swing. The blade cleaved up from its underbelly to the front of its opposite shoulder, and came out cleaner than it had been when it went in.
For a breath, the body seemed whole. Unharmed. Then it split, halves collapsing at my feet, its jaundice-yellow eyes still locked on my own, still stuck in that singular moment of the past.
[You have killed a Lv.8 Tremor-Class Razor-boned Hyena]
The root- buckled path was silent again.
I stood steady for a moment, appreciating my perfect swing, until the glow in my veins faded, and I collapsed, paralyzed, just as always.
[Your Blood Vessels have been burned by Mana: x350]
[Host’s [Mana Strain Resistance] has increased greatly: x3]
[The Skill [Mana Strain Resistance I] has been upgraded to [Mana Strain Resistance II].]
A laugh rippled out of me.
Finally.
How many times did that take? 8 times? That’s 24 "great" increases for just the first Level.
It was ludicrous in comparison to the other skills, but the skill itself was just as ludicrous. Perhaps more so.
I lay there, appreciating just how much of a better fighter I had become after a single day of guided training.
And if this was what one day could do...what about those with decades of it?
...What about the Gods...with hundreds...maybe thousands of years of experience...
I couldn’t imagine it, but I could only work towards it one day at a time.
And for today’s tasks...
My head swiveled over to the beast corpses, still steaming in the damp air.
...we’ve already got the Resource directive sorted. And...this should be more than enough meat to eke out 2500 Perfect Swings.
That only left the EXP requirements, and I’d be rid of this god-forsaken Quest Penalty.
Right now, it was only enough to be an annoyance, but if I relegated on the Daily Quests and let the seal stack up, it would quickly become debilitating. I couldn’t afford that here in the Core.
Eventually, my body healed up enough for me to stand, so I did, shakily at first, but steady before long.
I picked up my Axe with a grunt, one strong flick sending any remaining blood splattering against the roots, then looked over to the Beast carcasses again.
Time for the spoils.