Chapter 35: Chapter 35 - Until there was More
I knelt before the first squall, remembering Arthurs instructions on finding Beast Cores.
Beside the Heart, or inside the head.
The blade of my axe pressed into the beast’s chest, and the flesh parted easily, ribs snapping one by one as I sliced open the entire cavity. And there the heart was, small and ugly, and beside it, glowing faintly, a shard of red crystal no larger than a fingernail.
I wrenched it free, rolling it around my bloody fingers as I observed the light. It really was fascinating.
Three more times I carved. Three more times, the results were the same. Four tiny cores, weak light pulsing faintly in my palm, and then they were gone, straight to my Inventory.
Only the Tremor-Class remained, and it’s carcass, conveniently, was already bisected. So I went straight in, hands deep in its steaming innards, pulling aside sinew and organs slick with blood. Nothing. No glow.
I scowled, jaw clenching and unclenching, then dragged the axe up and over its skull.
I cleaved it in two with a single swing, brain matter spilling everywhere.
My hands shoved into the mush of the first half, wrist-deep in gore until, thankfully, my fingers brushed against something solid.
I pulled it free---a core the size of a marble, its crimson light pulsing like a heartbeat, far brighter than the meager shards from the Squalls.
I weighed it in my hand for a moment, thinking between alternatives. But there was really only one choice---the same one I’d made right after the kill.
The Tremor-Class Core would be used for the Resource Directive, as fuel for the mana-channeled training.
And the moment I made that conscious decision, the crystal vanished from my hand, not unlike how it happened with the Inventory. But this time, the System spoke.
[Resource Directive has been acquired in full.]
[500 Mana has been added to the Excess Pool.]
[Important: Excess Mana cannot be drawn if the Host is in a state of Combat.]
That much was to be expected...
Now I just had to set up camp, extract all the meat off these corpses, and begin training.
Setting up camp was easy, chop down a dry tree, use the trunk as seating, use the branches and leaves for the fire, but starting that fire...was a different challenge altogether.
My flint and steel sparked away for minutes on end.
Chik. Chik. Chik. Chik.
Anger bubbled beneath the surface. I wanted nothing more than to hack away at this damn pile of branches with my axe, then stomp it down into dust. But I really, really wanted to cook the meat.
The phantom taste of well-salted Gorge-wolf steaks still haunted me. I wanted more.
Sweat beaded as I sparked the tool over and over, frustration growing with every failure, until at last, the tinder flared, and it turned to flame.
The fire was small, but it would have to do.
My focus returned to the corpses. It was time to butcher some meat.
The bodies were stripped, their meat cubed and stacked in piles so massive I was forced to empty my inventory, filling it to the brim with the steaks instead.
The ground was a mire of gore, but the thick aroma of well-charred flesh, and the hissing sounds of fat rendering as the Hyena meat roasted over the fire were more than enough to make up for it.
My stomach growled in anticipation, mouth watering uncontrollably. It took every ounce of will to ignore it.
But I did.
Instead, I looked over to the small gathering of four squall-class cores that lay atop the tree-log since my inventory was now a fully-functioning fridge.
I took them into my palm, admiring them for a few moments, before swallowing all four.
[EXP:1350/1350]
[Level Up! 6 --> 7]
[You have gained 3 Attribute Points.]
[EXP: 200/1500]
[Squall-Class Beast Core x4 have been fully absorbed.]
I pulled up my Attributes immediately.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
[Attributes | AP: 3]
Strength: 12 (13.8)
Speed: 12
Mind: 11 (12.1)
Constitution: 10 (13.0)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
This time as well, I decided to dedicate everything to Mind and Constitution, bringing all my attributes to a perfectly balanced ratio...outside the secondary effects of my skills and titles, that was.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
[Attributes | AP: 0]
Strength: 12 (13.8)
Speed: 12
Mind: 12 (13.2)
Constitution: 12 (15.6)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I felt my stamina and mana surge as the latent strength was directed. It was inexplicably satisfying to see these numbers go up, but I couldn’t exactly explain why.
Another quirk of Human Psychology perhaps...
My stomach growled again. But again I ignored it.
It was time to train.
I stood, axe in hand, and walked out into open space, then took up my stance, and began the forms.
Starting first with the Downward chops.
[Invalid]
[Invalid]
[Downward Chops: 1/500]
[Invalid]
[Invalid]
[Invalid]
[Downward Chops: 2/500]
[Downward Chops: 3/500]
[Invalid]
Again. Again. Again.
Each line was ever so slightly closer to consistency than yesterday, the weight of the axe finding its path more and more often. Sweat ran down my spine, arms trembling faintly as I approached 100 perfect downward chops. But I didn’t waste effort in a bid to round off the number.
I stopped the moment I realized I was tiring, then walked over to the pile of meat, and finally gave in to temptation.
The juices ran hot down my throat as that divine sensation flooded me, that sensation beyond happiness or joy, that I still couldn’t name. I savored every morsel.
And alongside the sensation, came the stamina. The food was digested near instantly, and my tired muscles rejuvenated within minutes, and before long, they were primed with energy, rearing to go and do something.
So I put the next batch of meat up to slow-cook over the fire, then returned to my training.
[Invalid]
[Downward Chops: 94/500]
[Invalid]
[Invalid]
And the cycle continued. Swing. Swing. Swing. Exhaustion. Eat. Repeat.
The fire hissed, smoke curling up into the canopy, the mouth watering smell of slow-roasted Hyena thickening the air and wafting out into the core.
I fell into the rhythm, rep after rep, form after form, alternating between training and eating, and the numbers whittled away, slowly but surely.
It was calming. So peaceful, in fact, I’d completely forgotten I was in the core of the Divide. A biome teeming with every manner of beast. There had only been me, and my axe.
Until there was more.
I froze mid swing, my eyes cutting towards the tree line. The darkness...moved.
I was sure of it.
My axe dropped slow, returning to both hands as I readied myself, looking out into the darkness.
And then...the darkness opened its eyes, staring back at me with burning orbs of gold.
My breath trembled slightly as the creature stepped out.
Six legs carried its colossal frame, each paw soundless despite its size. Its body was sleek, fur as black as the night, but never still, shifting like smoke that refused to dissipate. The edges of its majestic, feline chassis blended into shadow, as if the darkness itself refused to let go of the beast’s fur completely.
Its head was broad, saber-like fangs peaking out of its deadly maw, gleaming with a venomous sheen.
I gulped. My body knew it before I did. I was utterly outclassed.
Appraisal.
[Shadestalker (Crisis)(Lv.???)]