Chapter 14: Fury's Finale -1
I was pretty sure I never understood cats better than right now. Just lying there in the sun, being warmed by it… It felt nice. My body heat seemed to have adapted well enough and sheer stationary exposure had rendered it simply warm instead of as hot as it probably should have been. The fact of what had actually lead to this situation also helped even out the temperature of it all. It was very hot after all, so just lounging around at this point seemed fitting. I just wish it was softer under me…
I had no idea how long I was actually out of it for. Minutes, probably. Hours? Doubtful. No matter how long I would stay here, I doubted the sun would actually move. I was pretty sure it was still in the exact same place as it had been when I went out of it, which either meant I slept for a full cycle, or it was actually stationary. The internal logic of this world was just like that.
On the other hand, I was not even sure how time moved in comparison. If I was gone for hours, would they notice me being gone back in Kuoh? If I didn't come to class and all that. With my reputation, maybe they would be glad that I was absent for the day as it meant it would be a day without one of the instrumental parts of the Pervert Trio…
But well, there would be those who would miss me. Namely, Tamamo, maybe even Sona or Rias depending on what point of interest Rias was right now and what sort of impression I had ended up leaving on Sona. I couldn't stay all that long anyway, as the Moon Cell probably still counted down the time until I would have to find the second trigger and all that. Even so, I found myself just lying there, refusing to move for a number of reasons. It felt nice, my body still felt rather exhausted and, in spite of the fact I had woken up, Melusine hadn't.
She was lightly asleep against my chest. The weight was comfortable and she was very, very, light anyway, being risen and lowered with my breaths like a cat. At some point, we had detached as I had gotten soft, but in her position she was still vaguely enough in position that I felt small waves of pleasure and stimulation. I was pretty sure that the additional LP gain that I had ended up with when I saw her like this was simply liking what I was seeing in a wholesome way, of finding her being adorable.
My body, I had only just continued, or begun, to notice, had been changing. While I was not really all that muscle bound or anything of the like, I was far from lanky. I looked more or less like a semi-professional athlete or something of that like, someone who actually took careful and long care of their body, the outlines of muscles present without making my body look all that hard. I was not really all that vain, but Gods Damn…
More importantly, the LP gain was… Truly enormous. Even with the additional changes I had made, I had a considerable amount of LP to 'spare', more than I had at any point leading up to this. It was the intention to start with, but somehow my priorities had reversed… Well, I could certainly make a habit out of this for various reasons. You could make a religion out of this! Wait, no, I was pretty sure Kiara, among others, had already pretty much done something like that. Heh.
I let Melusine rest for a while longer and pretty much willed the shop to open again, choosing a… Particular direction of skills this time around. They would be quite expensive, but I was pretty sure the combinations that they could lead to would be worth the investments down the line.
[[Weight Seal Lv.1/10] – Simultaneously places a strain on the user's whole body by an amount depending on the level of the skill, allowing for easier as well as constant strength training. Currently works by increments of 10kg
[Echoes of Blood Lv.1/?] – A different sort of experience can be obtained. Once activated, the blood of those recently killed by the user is called upon to echo the experiences of the slain, be they human, beast or otherwise. We are born of the Blood, made men by the Blood, undone by the Blood… One would do well to fear the Old Blood. The higher the skill level, the more detailed the echoes become, the more dangerous they become, the longer the time within which the blood can echo. As it is now, it is simply a vague feeling at the corner of one's mind
[Realis Phase Lv.1/?] – The desire for growth, granted. So long as the user possesses strong emotions and desire to grow stronger, they will grow stronger, surpassing previous limits, the additional growth proportional to the strength of their emotions. The growth is purely targeted and focused towards Stats, though some skills may find themselves leveling up before they normally would if the emotion is strong enough
[Slave of Light Lv.1/?] – The state of being enslaved by the positive doctrines of humanity such as courage, love, prosperity and progress. It is the desire to move forward without looking back. The soul brims with positive emotions, ambitions and expectations, endless passion that discards many things. An overwhelming spiritual power that can crush even the physical body of the user if they are not careful
[Heavenly Demon King's Affection Lv.1/?] – The situation is good enough. Hard work and diligence is renounced, love is embraced and stagnate depravity entered. Outside manipulations attempting to make the user move, change, are easier to resist, maybe even being completely immune to, ultimately making the user waste away. It is, however, an absolute will as well. All things that try to change the current situation will be resisted and fought against]
[Conditions met
Skill Upgrade!
[Slave of Light Lv.1/?] + [Heavenly Demon King's Affection Lv.1/?] = [Heavenly Demon King's Beloved Slave of Light Lv.1/?]
[Heavenly Demon King's Beloved Slave of Light Lv.1/?] – A paradoxical existence that is in conflict with itself. Emotions are intensified and brought to a new level. The current situation will be defended. The future will be fought for. The negatives and positives infect the user, turning them into a model of humanity itself yet a walking disaster at the same time. The Scent of a Beast is strong. The current situation will be embraced, yet progress will be maintained. No mercy will be given to the fool who tries to challenge and change the situation beloved by the user, for there is one absolute truth and that is the intensity of their love]
[Skill Obtained!
[Parallel Will (Intersected) Lv.1/?] – One mind split apart, or so it was originally. The mind is already intersected, yet pressure and weight continued to be placed on it until it started to fragment further. The user's will is increased by one for every level of the skill, the wills acting at the same time to take care of different tasks if necessary. Only one is ever in control of the body. All negative and even positive mental effects can be split between the various parallel wills, reducing their effects while still enjoying the benefits]
That was… Not all planned. Especially the last two parts. [Weight Seal] would ensure that my physical stats, or at least Strength, would continue to grow by putting weight on my body, which was by far the most normal out of the skills. Just a nice additional training regimen.
[Echoes of Blood] was part curiosity and part potential. I hadn't actually ever played Bloodborne myself, but I recognized it and acknowledged it as from there, the description only further drawing me in. What would happen if I were to slay the Furies and use the skill? What old, ancient, knowledge would I be able to obtain? Any skills? If I struck down someone truly skilled, would the experience of them training, becoming this skilled, rub off on me somehow? Would I remain sane while doing all of that?
Admittedly, [Echoes of Blood] was a skill I wanted to try and which I would probably discard if it got too much, if I don't somehow become addicted to it in some strange way. Even the vague impression of the life of a monster, a beast, could be dangerous, probably… I did not even know if the enemies ahead of me had lives to rub off on me before simply seemingly spawning out of nowhere. Any length of time of thought about the lives of the Furies also spawned doubts about how smart it would be to witness even a vague impression.
Looking ahead… What would I feel if I did it to Ares? To Zeus? To see such strife, such war, to possibly witness every war waged in the name of Ares, to witness the life of Zeus at first hand. Perhaps I was giving it too much credit, too much possibility, but well… The curiosity had ended up winning over. I would have time between then and now anyway, time enough to see if it was even safe to use the skill, to learn on who and what it was safe to use it on, if anything.
The combination of [Realis Phase] and [Slave of Light] was more or less my original goal and intention of using the earned LP anyway, which set me back quite a bit. It was not until giving it more consideration that I sought out an additional skill to try and balance things out, leading to [Heavenly Demon King's Affection]. I did not think the two skills would automatically combine into [Heavenly Demon King's Beloved Slave of Light] though. I did not even know the combination existed, but it seems it had further shattered my mind.
There was little actual mental change, at least for the time being. If anything, the change of a supposed additional will was already reducing some of the pressure. I was not really sure what the additional will was though… Was it the original other side of the intersection? The sadistic part? A temporarily blank slate into which I could push the additional mental strain and possible negatives of [Echoes of Blood]?
It didn't seem to have that much of a change either, at least until I noticed I was holding Melusine a bit tighter, running a hand through her hair as I did so, stroking, petting, her. I recognized and acknowledged the desire to do just that, but it had been slightly lower in priority compared to thinking on all of this. There was, at the least, that much of a change. I felt just a little more willing to just stay here and enjoy myself with her, yet the desire to keep moving hadn't left either.
It would be probably fine to stay here for a while longer… At least until Melusine wakes up. I would hate to wake her up myself, after all. It was an unwritten law to never wake up a sleeping kitten or puppy. As much as I knew she was neither, somehow in our current position I just couldn't think of her as anything else. It would be an action worthy of a lethal punishment to wake her up.
Looking back, in spite of how… Things ended, the skills hadn't leveled up. That was also fine. It would be a bit awkward for them to have done so, even if I had ended up with a powerful new attack in the process. Well, the Third Step could probably be a very nice reminder of what we had done, a commemoration of having lost my virginity. On top of that, the previous 'Status: Virgin' had been replaced with a 'Body Count: 1', which was a bit funny in and of itself. Possibly useful as well, though I currently did not see as much of a need for a tracking method of how many women I sleep with.
It was not long after giving the skills time to settle in that Melusine stirred awake, woken up by something or another, which I hoped was not my fault. "Hm…" She did not sound that pleased to be waking up.
"Ah… Good morning." I still gave her my best smile when she looked up at me.
"Yeah…" As soon as she looked up at me, she frowned a little in an almost picturesque display of deep thought and trying to remember things.
[100 Affection Reached with Melusine!
Race Upgrade!
[Young Fae Altered Dragon] -> [Fae Altered Dragon]
Skill Obtained!
[Innocence Arondight: Know Not Now, Innocent Light of the Lake Lv.1/10] – A casual use, yet immensely powerful, attack. The Fairy Sword Arondight is created within your hands, channeling a large amount of magical energy on its own. If used as a thrust, the magical energy naturally rotates, dealing low damage but striking with immense drilling, penetrating, force. If used as a slash, the energy is unleashed in a powerful slash that can even leave the blade as a faux projectile that explodes in a powerful release upon making contact with the enemy. The sword itself is created with the consumption of 1.500 MP while every subsequent attack with it consumes another 500 MP unless the sword is dispelled
[Eyes of Enslaved Boundary Light Lv.1/10] – The [Gaze upon the Horizon] has met the greatest of humanity's principles. While a mere look may not enthrall entirely, simply gazing deep into the eyes of the possessor may charm targets of insufficient mental fortitude or those who are similarly aligned to it. An effect similar to Charisma is applied, though while the user may not be able to lead a country or kingdom, armies can be lead and encouraged simply by the light, the hope, held within the eyes]
Ah… A lot more skills were obtained in short order than I expected… And the change was more than a bit complicated on its own, especially the eyes. Either way, Melusine's expression shifted to one of embarrassment, a very slight blush on her face, before she seemed to further 'melt' into me, the armor manifesting over my body once more. My eyes were rarely really revealed anyway for the time being, though I would probably have to be careful going forward in DxD…
I considered buying a skill to deal with the eyes ahead of time, but I was not completely sure what sort of effects it would have to those around me. If it was not as bad as I thought and simply made me more charming, more… Tolerable… Maybe I could actually use it to escape my current and only title. Then again, at the end of all this, maybe I will end up with a new title anyway…
Hm… Ah, whatever. For the time being, I flew up to my feet. The original intention of some of the skills did shine though and I found myself more motivated to move forward. [Realis Phase] combined with [Slave of Light] would effectively mean I would always have a desire to move forward, which meant I would grow and improve, balanced out into [Heavenly Demon King's Beloved Slave of Light], unintentional as it technically was, which drove me not only to progress and improve, but to return to the comfortable situation.
My state had not really changed much beyond that. My goals were pretty much the same as they had been before, all that had changed was the extent and intensity of my will. I was rested up and walked forward eagerly to see what challenge awaited me next, flicking my hand, empty as it was of the Blades for the time being. I did not change physically either even after the race upgrade.
The next group would, if memory served, be the one which would be fought with the full extent of skills, which itself meant the likelihood of yet another skill if I was not wrong. Fairy Sword Arondight was held in my hand and, after a bit of a flight, the next enemy, singular, showed up in front of me… Which was an Elephant. It was a bit late to show up when it was talked about, but close enough, no?
As soon as I prepared to face it, a long notification nearly blinded me.
[Skills Generated!
[Second Form: Lake Ripples] – A direct upgrade of the [First Form], yet one that follows its steps at the same time. While the [First Form] and its steps can be used regardless of the weapon held, the [Second Form] and its steps are purely used while wielding the Fairy Sword Arondight, utilizing [Innocence Arondight: Know Not Now, Innocent Light of the Lake]. An affinity exists with a certain style of Breathing, which cannot be replicated as equally with the [First Form]
[Second Form, Second Step: Lake of Dividing Waves], [Second Form, Third Step: Reflections of the Lake]]
The sword in my hands ignited as three forms of energy seemed to flow through and along it at the same time. The [Calamity of Flame] giving a soft blue glow now instead of the former colors, [Soul of Hades] giving it a purple glow and a layer of light blue, lighter than the flames, nearly solidifying over to further imply the new skill gained was in use. The Elephant, in turn, was wielding a club made of what seemed like bone.
Slicer was, by design, meant to be used with both hands, the Blades being two weapons, but Fairy Sword Arondight was comfortable in just one hand as I stepped forward and felt the further drain on my MP. A diagonal cut came down on the Elephant from its shoulder heading down, elegantly flowing into a slight change of angle, cutting another line upwards along its body as if it had no resistance against such a thing, the third going back down, carving the third line before stopping and my body moving forward, thrusting the sword up to the point where the neck ends and the head begins. The tusk, rather surprisingly, had not been in my way.
When all four strikes were finished, the effects seemed to catch up, three concentrated blasts showing up along the carved lines which caused the body to additionally thrash from the released energy, the whole body unable to move as if pinned in place purely by the fact I had a sword impaled through its head. The pierce had had its own effect, a blast of energy seemingly being shot through the back of its head, further guaranteeing its instant death.
[Level Up!
HP, MP and Fatigue restored
+100 HP and 10,000 MP
+1 to All Stats]
Nice.
I waited for a few moments, but no enemies arrived. I was surprised at my disappointment toward that, but used the change to try out [Echoes of Blood]. It was not quite what I expected, actually. I was not even sure if there was some history to it… It could best be described as seeming a vague movement in the corner of one's vision, or being pretty sure you saw something moving in the dark. A quick flash that had no real benefit.
For the time being, I decided to keep moving. Maybe defeating a larger group would have a more solid effect, maybe I would simply have to waste a lot of uses until it starts having an actual effect… Maybe I needed something, someone, older. I pretty much had all of the possibilities to test out in front of me.
o.O.o.O.o
The lizards were unleashed. The path inside was found and what was probably supposed to be a short puzzle, followed by a fairly considerable drop, was skipped by way of flight, which had put me in the way of more Manticore Eggs to collect, as well as another of the insect limbed women… Who was assaulted by the Lamia Dragon until weakened while I collected the eggs.
With a mostly silent command, ten lizards jumped into the woman… Considering I became vaguely, yet solidly enough, aware that the new creature was an 'Empusa Dragon', I got a name for them as well. The Empusa Dragon more or less retained its form, keeping the limbs, though instead of being insect-like, they became closer to actual blades, getting a bit of a metallic look, or close enough, and seemingly scythe-like.
…The Empusa Dragon did not get a breast increase, but rather her hips widened out, the fact further being combined with the fact she walked balanced on two blade serving to make the few steps after the fact all the more… Sexual due to the slight sway that was still created when on only one leg-blade. She also had wings, as was pretty much natural.
The chance to experiment was further taken. Sixteen Manticore Eggs had been obtained and I took one back out of my inventory, at which point two lizards jumped at it and being absorbed into it, following which, it hatched in short order. I was not sure if they were close to hatching anyway or if CSC was accelerating the process… The result was a surprisingly large, maybe almost as long as Melusine was tall, 'Manticore Dragon', which itself was a bit of an impressive creature…
…Though it was not all that different than a normal Manticore. In the first place, The Manticore had a scorpion tail and plates lining the back, the whole creature already looking a bit reptilian with this result just barely more so, the only real difference being that, instead of a lion-like face, it had a longer face, more fitting of a traditional western dragon. It opened its mouth and further showed off that it had several rows of teeth, similar to a shark. I was not sure why it did so, but it did seem that my… 'Familiars' had a certain aim-to-please personality.
In a bit of a surprise, I also ended up learning I was somehow able to further fuse the resulting 'familiars'. I was not quite sure what the rules and or limits were, but the Lamia and Empusa fused into a strange hybrid. The face was more human while retaining the shape it had before, keeping the cobra hood and actually gaining a few more snakes as if she gained more hair. Her breasts went up by at least another cup size while her hips became even more wide, but I tried not to notice that, as much as I knew the sway she would have while moving would only further accent all of it.
She gained a few spike growth as well along her forearm, along with the apart capability to grow a spike from its wrist, above the actual hands, which she seemed to want to show off to me for whatever reason. It reminded me less of Wolverine himself, but more of that strange Deadpool version from his origin movie, the one that could grow a blade of his own and had laser vision and all that silly stuff. She looked a hell of a lot deadlier than that, but the general idea was still valid in my mind.
With how short of a time the Empusa was on my side, she was not missed in the slightest. I would probably run into more of them anyway. The hybrid… Now named Lia for the sake of simplicity, at least temporarily sent back to the 'Gate' along with the Manticore Dragon. I could have sworn the Manticore Dragon whined a little when I did so…
Once more alone, I faced the puzzle. The only one who could have asked was Melusine, but I was more or less willing to admit that I sent them away to avoid them being there while I try to figure out what the puzzle next to me was wanting me to do. The mechanism was not really all that obvious about what was wrong with it, or where I should be going now… At least back in the prison there was only one place to go and the temple was not quite as open as this place.
It took longer than I honestly want to admit, but eventually, after a series of attempts to figure out the exact combination of using the rewind power to fix an inhumanly large chain, pulling and pushing the mechanism along to use the chain as it was probably supposed to be used, climbing around gears… I reached a dead end. It seemed to be a dead end, at least, but the wall as a bit strange even at just a look… They said Archimedes made this, didn't they? I had all the more reason to hate the bastard now, faced with this strange stone.
Well, I would, but I really did not know if it was right to do so. The stone was rather clearly carved out, several times my height in all three dimensions and heavy like an absolute motherfucker. It wasn't even on some set path, I had to push it along the ground, an endeavor I succeeded in only because it was already cut out, fitting perfectly without being attached in the slightest to the stones that surrounded it. The only thing that seemed to have been keeping it in place was its weight and even when it was pushed out, falling into the water, nothing around it moved.
Instead, when I was done internally complaining, I had to climb, or rather fly in my case, up the side of the statue's foot until running into… An alien from Avatar… Commanding a flock of harpies. That did not seem quite right, but she was tall, blue, wielding a spear and wearing Greek looking armor along with a shield in her other hand. She really did look like an Avatar Alien… Wait, was she missing a boob?
After a moment of consideration, not about the boob, the Manticore Dragon was sent out again to deal with the Harpies while I challenged the woman, wielding the Blades again. With the previous fight having been taken care of by the lizards, I was pretty sure this was supposed to be a free range fight and challenged her accordingly… At which point I noted that yes, she was missing one of her breasts, the armor having been adapted accordingly.
She was nimble, just barely avoiding the first few swings, our actual fighting area too small to properly let the chains extend which left me fighting her in close range. I was rather comfortable with such an arrangement anyway, but having only recently decided to try and make the most of the chains it was a bit of an annoyance anyway.
She kept trying to get far enough away to use her spear, but ultimately, I was faster and stronger, leaving her unable to even get a proper hit. The one she had managed was blocked with [Spartan's Revenge], leaving her unable to get out of the way in time before the subsequent counter-attack resulted in her death, both Blades being impaled into her midriff and lifting her off the ground for a short moment before she was released and the Blades taken out.
With the fight having lasted longer this time around, [Echoes of Blood] was used again with a bit greater expectation. It did not disappoint greatly as it did have a slightly greater effect, further imprinting the experience of having fought her in my mind, which did not seem that useful right now. It was probably going to be more useful later if I end up running into more of her enemy type though…
The time it took me to kill her was also more or less also the amount of time it took for the Manticore Dragon to deal with the harpies, their slightly charred but mostly mauled corpses nearby. It was borderline disturbing to watch it bite into and eat the overdone bodies, but it stopped when I approached. I gave it a headpat before returning it to safety, even if it could probably deal with the enemies as well…
But well, I was not completely sure if I wanted to risk my familiars like that. They probably would not care anyway, as Melusine certainly did not say anything about watching me skipping the normal path… But my point was only made further valid as, while flying over the water, even from a considerable height above it, the tentacle returned and tried to smack me out of the air. The Manticore Dragon probably would have died from that, the though further solidifying the decision to keep them all safe while I could.
As for my safety, the decision had pretty much ended up being made in a split-second, almost a natural response at this point, the Blades moving to block, [Spartan's Revenge] further activating, stopping the tentacle in place, before I followed it up with the First Form, four deep cuts left on the tentacle before it retreated.
[Skill Level Up!
Nine Lives– Increasing Blades: 3 -> 4
Five attacks are now made instead of four]
I was slowly getting there… No, with the ease with which the skill activated as well, I might really surpass the hundred blows easily sooner or later, as long as I had the MP… Come to think of it, if I greatly reduce the damage, don't even use any Bursts, maybe I could already reapply the skill time and time again in short order to make it all the way up to a hundred. I only had to do it twenty times over…
The lack of a new skill being generated for that was more or less enough of a discouragement about the validity of the plan. Even a hundred blows would not do enough damage without the Bursts to enhance them. Maybe, eventually, I will find a way to do it without cost. Probably when I reach enough damage output.
For the time being, the next area I was being guided to was the detached head of the statue, mostly whole but destroyed enough and being connected by a very, very, long rope. The head was at a slight angle, as well as lying on its side. As a result the floor, which probably should have been the walls instead, being full of gaps due to how the metal was designed to maximize stability while minimizing costs or whatever. At any rate, it wasn't meant to be walked on, but as I had to, I also further felt pleased for [Furthest Earth]. Seriously, where would I be without it…
At least the path was clear this time, aside for a pair of electric screamers I hadn't seen since the temple, and scarabs that had a purple glow to their butts. It was, however, rather more linear and obvious, which meant I could just fly past the puzzles or simply the things that I would have to push something to get to normally. It was a time saver as well as a welcomed change… I did not want to waste more time trying to figure out the architect's intention.
After the flight through what seemed to be the entire length of the head, I even encountered another of the Avatar folk, this one instead joined by… A Centaur. I was pretty sure he was a centaur at least. He had the lower half of a horse, the upper body of a man but the face was of a vaguely human shape that only seemed to cause some uncanny valley effect even as he charged me with a heavy looking polearm. There was another one nearby who tried to rush me as well, leaving me with three enemies wielding polearms…
To face these considerable and intimidating enemies… I unleashed the lizards. It was still ridiculous to see them start to show up, the near dramatic appearance of space shifting to allow their exit from the Gate and entry to normal space. None the less, they bravely or at least lacking any survival instinct, rushed my opponents.
[Skill Level Up!
Corrupted Species Continuation: 1 -> 2]
Twenty lizards shorter, leaving me with only six of the originals, plus Primus and Secundus, I had two 'Centaur Dragons' and an 'Amazon Dragon'. The Centaur Dragons had changed only a little by comparison to the others. They were already wearing armor and they seemed to still be doing so, but now they gained scales on various parts of their body that hadn't been protected by armor before, including their horse halves. Their wings looked sturdy, yet not powerful, unlikely to actually lift them off the ground to allow flight, or even gliding, but almost as if spreading them while running would give them the chance to run into something at top speed and do massive damage in doing so. Considering they were already nearly twice my height, the wings were more or less on head height, which only made the potential all the more dangerous.
The Amazon Dragon grew a boob; that was probably not supposed to be the first and main thing to focus on, but I still couldn't figure out exactly why only one was missing. If it was both, it could make sense, but one? Apparently only having one was indeed a trait of the enemy type at that, or I just ran into a pair of odd ones. Instead of one boob, she only had one wing, though it looked sturdy and powerful on its own, almost designed to be used as a defensive measure to protect her left side while her weapon was on her right.
Deciding to focus at least a little to boobs, even if my name was still Issei Hyoudou in spite of everything, the three were stored as no further enemies appeared and I went back to making more lizards. The skill had leveled up, but there wasn't much of a difference yet… Well, a bit of a lowered cost, but too small to be worth much in the short run. Eventually the slight cost reductions would probably stack up to a considerable difference though. I was pretty sure of that.
o.O.o.O.o
Mostly flying through the area ahead of me, which itself was a good choice considering it started crumbling around me when I did try to continue on foot for the sake of doing things properly instead of just doing everything the easy way, I got to sixty lizards; I also found out that there was a slight change as now they were just barely flying as well, which was adorable in its own way. I was unable to focus on it for too long however as something started happening again.
And that was… A street forming around me. With a moving wave of golden energy, I assumed, the floor beneath me changed to cobbled road, buildings formed around me, day turned to night… It should not have been as confusing as it was, but somehow I was having a bit of trouble processing what happened. It happened so fast and it felt so real that if I had blinked at the wrong time, I probably wouldn't have noticed the change and thought I was simply teleported.
A man formed in front of me when the scene was set up. "There he is!" He announced… To no one that was obvious, yet it was followed up by a dozen men wielding spears and shields equally formed out of the energy a short distance away. "You will pay for what you have done!" He continued before lifting his own shield and spear, joining the formation that was approaching with careful aggression.
Their formation was good and I didn't see an obvious opening to try and challenge it with, a massive difference compared to the arguable sentience of the various monsters I had been facing up to now, including the Avatar Aliens, who were alone both times around. On top of that, if there were illusions, it was likely that there were Furies nearby as well.
Deciding to shelve my confusion for now, I prepared for the fight, Fairy Sword Arondight forming in my right hand while from my left, glowing as it was with the [Ice of Poseidon] up to half of my forearm, one of the Innocence Arondight was unsheathed. With the enemies having positioned themselves seven in front, six behind them, the six jumped over the seven in a practiced way, using them as jumping off points rather than actually jumping super high on their own, which still resulted in six men descending down on me with spears to try and impale me.
They probably would have succeeded as well, but with a Burst, I managed to move out of the way fast enough. The Ice was, by far, the strongest of the elements even if a bit situational and ultimately less cool looking than the Soul. It allows for underwater breathing, generates Red Orbs and breaks blocks. The men tried to get into a position to defend against my attacks, but with only a single attack from either of my weapons, their stance was broken.
Their blocks were broken with only a single attack, but it still required a bit of time to actually go through, meaning that the Nine Lives would only break their block harder rather than have the full effect. None the less, there was an alternative. The Fairy Sword was fully activated, surrounding itself with spinning energy while Innocence was used to block their attacks as best as I could, my on-the-spot theory proven correct when Fairy Sword broke through the shield and impaled the soldier behind it.
I had expected such a thing as well, the sword a lot longer than the Blades as well as having the additional channeling power now to further pierce through. The other soldiers only seemed to further ready themselves in sentient intelligence, unlike the monsters up to this point that lacked a survival instinct. I could almost imagine these ones running away as well if the fight does not go their way.
Further thinking on how best to take them on, I realized I had a considerable amount of Red Orbs I hadn't invested into anything saved up. Since I had a direct and specific use for one of them as well now, I started moving around more evasively as I felt the Red Orbs being channeled into the power.
[Skill Upgraded!
[Ice of Poseidon] -> [Ice of Poseidon (V)]
...…okay, I had a lot more than I thought I did. The [Fire of Ares] stopped at three, and the Ice stopped at five… Further curiosity I could not help lead me to avoid more of their attacks, using [Spartan's Revenge] to block their attacks as best as I could while also getting a certain additional skill I had seen available, as well as using it.
[Skill Purchased!
[Skill Fusion] – Forcibly fuses two or more skills together. While the result is likely to grow faster and have greater results, some skills can naturally evolve and combine with others which may be unforeseen, so be careful!]
[Skills Fused!
[Fire of Ares (III)] + [Ice of Poseidon (V)] = [Cold Flame of War]
[Cold Flame of War Lv.1/10] – A power which summons both of the Ice of Poseidon and the fury of Ares' Fire. A small amount of Red Orbs is generated with every hit and after making a sufficient amount of attacks, the enemy is stunned, as well as a bonus amount of Red Orbs being generated. Enemy blocks are negated. Breathing underwater is possible as well as a slight increase of movement capability while in or under water]
Okay, now I definitely have to upgrade the [Soul of Hades] to the max. For the time being however, the weapons in my hands turned even more blue and with a strike… I got a single Red Orb. Okay… One Red Orb per hit then? Maybe it will upgrade as the skill progresses… Eventually, the amount was likely to stack up to immense amounts as well.
A familiar voice, though more of a grunt, caught my attention however as Megaera showed up, alive and with both her arms. She further announced her arrival, perched on a metal gate, by stabbing one of the solders through with her insect leg, which caused him to bleed… I assume that the other will decided to use [Echoes of Blood] on seeing that.
[Illusions do not Echo]
What realistic illusions otherwise… "Let me show you how it's done!" Throwing the soldier right at me, which was side-stepped, she jumped down and four more soldiers were formed. The second phase of the fight arrived and something was telling me to swap weapons for it. Arondight had immense penetrative power, Slicer had high swinging power and the Blades were sheer, raw, but unskilled power. Or maybe I was just doing things wrong.
The Blades made their return anyway, along with Sadism to ensure the best chance against the Fury. Megaera ended up mostly prowling, trying to be intimidating, while I concerned myself with the soldiers. With the Cold Flame, their defenses were quickly broken, the strikes further increasing my damage. Due to the shortness of their blades compared to Arondight's, I could not one shot them, but that only served in my advantage, damage getting higher and higher as well as small amounts of Red Orbs being generated even if it would take a few thousand enemies to get to a point where I could upgrade anything at this rate.
Better than that, I started to see openings, slight advantages mostly born purely from the fact I was that much stronger than human, that much faster, though maybe it was also in part due to the Mind's Eye, I was not sure beyond the fact that the only way this would even work was because of physical advantages.
Their shields protected their upper bodies, each shield about as large as their torso, preventing an easy hit there unless I could get to an angle fast enough… But their legs were rather open enough. It was mostly the shins and below, which themselves were armored, but it was enough for me to target. Naturally, this meant they could not protect the rest of their bodies either and as a result, they were quickly taken care of.
[Sadistic Constitution] did not have as much of an effect on fogging my mind, possibly split between the two wills instead of acting on just one. I still felt the increase in aggression, but it felt like it was getting me towards Berserker levels considerably slower, even as I went low, let the chains flow to hit low spots, severed feet and avoided Megaera's hits when she thrust her insect legs at me to try and impale me.
[Level Up!
HP, MP and Fatigue restored
+100 HP and 10,000 MP
+1 to All Stats]
In spite of being illusions, they apparently still gave normal experience and even Red Orbs. Just when they started running out as well, the buildings themselves moved back, the street becoming nearly thrice as wide, maybe actually so as I could not really measure them in my state, with Megaera choosing to start getting more serious, climbing the buildings and jumping down, slamming with what seemed to be magic enhanced impacts.
"You may be strong, but you will die like any other mortal!" Said the Fury who I had already killed in the future, proving her mortality. On top of that, in spite of her taunt, she was still keeping her distance away from me, simply climbing up, trying a few jabs with her legs then climbing back up to repeat the process.
Her jumps, after being seen a few times, became a bit predictable. Though I was not completely sure on the timing, [Spartan's Revenge] was able to more or less absorb the power of one of her jumps, which immediately went into a First Form, making her exclaim, nearly scream, in pain.
[Skill Level Up!
Spartan's Revenge: 1 -> 2]
She hadn't lost her arm from that, so the fight was not over, though she did climb on a building after it, holding her body in what could be considered pain. With a gesture of her hand, five more soldiers showed up, apparently being created by her power in spite of my expectations.
The soldiers died just as the previous ones had, but there was no notification of experience when they did. Instead, their spears were left behind… They probably still did increase my skills though, Red Orbs still being generated with every attack as well, and the additional battle experience would not be too bad, causing a bit of a struggle on what to do… The effects of Sadism seemed to have been pushed all the way on the other Will, which apparently took control of my body and continued to fight to give me the chance to decide what to do.
The chains were let out, but so were both Innocence Arondight, the chains obviously avoiding the swords, which did not seem to have a grand purpose. The fighting style of the other will was… Berserk already, except now I was able to watch it all happen, from a first person perspective as well. I had no control of my body, but I was still able to watch it mercilessly slaughter the enemies around us… The illusions around us. They were not human, even if they seemed to be so.
I found myself mesmerized. The reason I was allowed to think while the other me fought was to decide on how to handle this situation, yet the change ended up needless as eventually, no new Soldiers showed up. Somehow, I even felt a bit envious of myself, even if I was me and the actual difference between us was rather negligible. We were both 'me' and the only real difference right now was that now I actually saw the Berserker side of me instead of being lost in it.
No mercy had been given, no opening allowed, the soldiers never actually getting close enough to necessitate the use of Arondight, which I was starting to realize was indeed more of a defense measure even among a Berserker mindset. While I hadn't been able to figure out a way to get past the shield, in the berserker rage, the maddened mind simply did not care, severing their arms and breaking the shields anyway through sheer overwhelming force and violence. It was an absolute slaughter that left me wondering if Megaera had stopped spawning them just to save them from this sort of situation, but that did not make much sense.
[Skill Level Up!
Draconic Total Concentration Breath: 9 -> 10
Dragon Heart: 4 -> 5
Mana Burst: 23 -> 25
Sword Combat Proficiency: 22 -> 24
Fairy Pattern Quality: 15 -> 16
Fairy Pattern Quantity: 8 -> 9
Intersect of Yin-Yang: 6 -> 7
Calamity of Flame: 13 -> 16
Sadistic Constitution: 5 -> 6
Furthest Earth: 3 -> 4
Eye of the Mind (True): 3 -> 4
Cold Flame of War: 1 -> 2]
I felt the Sadism wash off while I was waiting for more enemies to show up, the absence of it making the two wills feel more like one again. The street around me was littered with the leftover spears of the fallen enemies. Wills were corrected, the effects shared as I returned to the helm, which did not feel like as much of a difference, no longer a mental debuff to move between us that could actually prove to myself that it happened.
The Blades were sent to my inventory as my hands moved to either side, grabbing a spear in each hand and throwing the first at the Fury in fury for resetting my damage bonus. I missed, not even only managing to graze her. I decided to ignore that, having a dozen and some spears to use as ammo if she doesn't dispel them on her own. The other spear was tossed to my right hand and I threw it as well, immediately moving to get more ammo.
The second one was smacked away and [Mana Burst] was utilized with the third one, seeing the taunting expression on her face at the fact I was not an Archer, launching the spears with enough force they ignored gravity by a considerable amount. It had been a while since I played darts, but I did have some experience with it and I was trying to draw as much of it as I could, lacking a cursor or something to actually know where I was aiming otherwise.
By the time I ended up realizing that I probably could have bought a skill to correct my aim, a few of the spears had managed to hit her even as she tried to get away, jumping to a different building. The damage had further caused her to fall off, a chance I immediately capitalized on, rushing at her while taking the Blades back out. Her insect legs were thrust toward me, my rush apparently not fast enough to outpace her recovery. I raised an arm block them, leaving them grinding against the flat of the Blade, while the other swung up, the chain letting the Blade try and cut through her. She was not bisected, annoyingly enough.
Then she reached forward as the Blade was returning to my hand, trying to grab me. With a burst of movement, I went into First Form, one cut almost cleanly severing her arm, solidifying the timeline so to say, while four others left wounds I didn't recognize yet which still should have scarred in any normal situation.
Victory was unable to be celebrated for long anyway, the street vanishing along with the additional spears and a familiar looking bird swooping down toward me. "My arm! You will pay for that!" …yeah, no, I won't. I almost said that out loud as well, but all of my focus was on the bird.
Even with my focus, the bird did manage to separate us as the street finished vanishing, daylight and reality returning to as they were before. "Come, sister. Together we will defeat this mongrel!" Mongrel!? "If pain is what he shows us, then pain is what he shall receive!" Megaera retreated somewhere while the other sister showed up to replace her.
While she was capable of unsupported flight, she still kept her bird by her side, or rather behind her as if it was carrying her. Her methods of attack were bolts of magic, along with sweeping attacks with her bird, being both annoyingly quick and powerful while attacking like that. In spite of that, her orientation was not really combat, even less so when compared to the illusionary soldiers that Megaera created, or even Megaera herself. This, however, did not mean that I was underestimating her.
We mostly just avoided each other for a while as I stuck close to the ground, not wanting to risk taking her on where she likely had the advantage of greater experience. She sent her magic at me, swept along the battlefield and I avoided all of it, like she avoided my attempts to hit her with the Blades, always moving, not even stationary enough for Bursts to allow me to actually manage to hit her properly.
[Skill Obtained!
[Evade Lv.1/10] – A situational skill that can only be activated when there is an actual chance of evading an attack. At the cost of MP, you will evade an attack if it can be evaded. Cost per use as well as well as the cooldown decrease as the skill levels up]
I was not really at the point where I would need to use a skill to avoid her attacks, but the skill was appreciated anyway as it would likely come in handy at some later point. "It is pointless to keep him alive!" I was unable to use it fast enough though as Megaera showed up again and tried to impale me, possibly having gotten tired of just waiting around while in her state and fury, though she no longer seemed to be bleeding from her now stumped arm. Trying to block it on my own simply resulted in her leg slamming up against the flats of my blades and sending me back a short distance. "Just kill him!"
"Do not get ahead of yourself." Ah, there was conflict between the sisters… Yet in spite of it, they fought together for a short few moments before the Caster moved back and a sort of golden bubble appeared over Megaera. She started to be a support apparently, which I could already foresee her being even more annoying as.
The bubble shield was quickly proven powerful enough to stop my attacks from reaching her sister at that while the Caster started causing magical meteors to rain down. At least she was flying on her own, her bird flying around on its own. I was unable to keep watching either of them however with Megaera, now nearly invulnerable, still focusing on me and seeking payback for her arm.
The change in situation had caused the difficulty to spike considerably. Against one, I could manage, but the two of them even in this sort of half-coordinated state was proving too much to handle as I was. As such, I let the Blades return to my inventory, replaced by Slicer as it quickly ignited with the appropriate boosts. I stepped back , then forward again, nearly rotating my entire body into a powerful swing to add momentum and force behind it.
It proved useful as the bubble was cut into, supposed invulnerability broken through and a deep cut made which could have bisected Megaera were she any lesser than she was. Slicer did have a hell of a flavor text to it and it seems I am gradually approaching the point at which it would start to be able to live up to the lore.
[-594 HP
+149 HP]
A bolt of magic struck me not long after the swing was made and took a chunk off of my HP while letting Megaera retreat a little and the shield was repaired on top of that. I did not care much for the shield, instead focusing on that fact that I really can't survive multiple strikes from the Caster. Slightly worse, the ground started to shake and I just vaguely noticed the distant, massive, structure in the background being grasped by the massive tentacles.
[-1.020 HP
+255 HP]
In the short moment that my entire mental capacity was not taken up by the sisters, Megaera ran me through with her insect legs, temporarily making me glad for the damage mechanics as it would have been an instant kill normally. In spite of the defenses, she even failed to actually destroy the armor yet still ran me though, in spite of resistances, in spite of the fact she was the first boss, who I had already killed… She did a sixth of my Max HP.
Holy fuck, either the scaling was a lot more massive than I thought, or there was something else at play. Had I even gotten hit by her before? Aside for the initial strikes that broke the bindings… But how would I have even survived those hits!? No, she was trying to torture me then, now she was trying to kill me. If she had fought me herself back then, she probably would have been able to kill me unless it really was a scaling difference.
Either way, she was far too dangerous and once no longer impaled, I found myself doing my best to avoid the combined attacks of the sisters with almost increasing desperation. I was pretty sure that [Furthest Earth] was the only thing keeping me on my feet somehow since not all of my steps were actually complete. I should have lost my balance some time ago.
The bolts of magic, as they descended, did not even cast a shadow and I had to purely rely on some battle instinct I did not know I had, though it probably really was just the Mind's Eye that I hadn't realized the true extent of. It was dangerous to be in one spot for too long whatever the case.
I could not use Nine Lives in any extent as it would leave me open to being hit and the nearly guaranteed death of the second and third steps was also going to put me near death by draining all of my MP. Well, the damage was rather low right now, but with the amount of damage I would be taking at the end of either step, I would probably be in the range of getting struck down with a single hit, having no MP and insufficient time to open up an MP chest.
I had to change tactics, do something, anything, no matter how quickly the idea would be thought of. At the rate of events, I was going to slip up before them and die. Something came to mind and Slicer vanished from my hands as well, Innocence Arondight being prepared on each arm. A test proved them incapable of piercing through the shield completely, but cracks were left over. It did not matter, my target was no longer Megaera.
[Skill Purchased!
[Reduced Earth Lv.1/10] – A technique to cut down the distance between opponents instantly. Many martial arts masters have pursue the extremity of Step Movements in martial arts. Rather than a simple quickness, there are numerous phenomena that are connected with each other and are completed with walking, body movement, breathing, blind spots, etc.
[Space Magic Lv.1/10] – The school of magic which focuses on the control of space. Rate of learning and improving Spells and Skills related to space is increased as this skill progresses. In turn, as Spells and Skill related to spells are learned and improved, this skill gradually levels up
[Battle Continuation Lv.1/10] – A damage reduction effect is applied that decreases damage taken at low amounts of HP. Less damage is taken from attacks made to vital spots]
The plan failed twice over. [Reduced Earth], as used by Okita, gave her a limited teleportation ability, which I did not have. Going for [Space Magic] to try and get it from there also failed. In some desperation, I went with [Battle Continuation] just to try and increase my chances of survival, how long I could survive this onslaught.
Even so, I found myself a bit lighter on my feet, or rather that it got a bit easier to leap. Even if the plan failed, I still moved just a little better, making just a little more distance with careful movements until it was with a leap and a burst that I took off, ignoring Megaera for the time being and instead flying straight for the Caster, both Innocence held to the front, glowing with gathered power, ready to strike her down and run her through. It seemed that I was moving too fast for her to get out of the way fast enough.
A shield formed over her as well, my right hand moving back slightly, the left one striking against the bubble, straining against it for a few moments before shattering it like glass, my arm bent against my body from the blowback of the explosion. Aside for a bit of a spoke of pain in my shoulder from the strain, it did not seem to do any damage or really hurt me, the other one still heading straight for her and being stabbed through her. A feeling of [Sadistic Constitution] deepening a little told me that I was successful in hitting her.
My victory however was short lived as I felt sharp pain at my hips and was brought down to the ground.
[-1.123 HP
+281 HP
-1.022 HP
+255 HP
-121 HP
+30 HP]
Megaera's insect legs were taken out from where they had impaled me from behind and above, her one remaining hand grabbing the back of my head and probably planning on slamming me down against the ground. [Mana Burst – Calamity of Flame] and [Area Crushing] were quickly used, the area around us swallowed up by a massive amount of fire that chunked off my MP, but sent Megaera back and greatly damaged our surroundings in general.
I did my best to get back on my feet as quickly as I could. I still had over half my HP, but the pain in my hips was annoying and made me want to wince… And maybe moan a little. The more of a Masochist I become, the less punished I will be for my mistakes with high amounts of lasting damage… I defended, to myself as Megaera glared down at me in rage. What use have I for pride and decency when throwing away both may save my life now and in the future!?
"Enough!" A third voice as the one I assumed to be the third Fury showed up, floating in unsupported flight and sending a projectile of ink at me, one that I failed to dodge in time as it just barely clipped my leg, a second one further binding me in the sticky substance that I was not sure if it was ink, tar, sludge or whatever. "It is time, Vortigern." She spoke in a commanding tone. "Come with us and serve your oath. Perhaps you may even end up on Olympus one day." Her tone changed as she spoke, almost landing at an alluring one when she offered me a place on Olympus.
I on the other hand was more distracted by the thing on her head. All things considered, she looked fairly badass in a certain way, even if her breasts seemed to either be covered, or made out of, the same black substance binding me right now. That further flowed into an outfit which was either simple clothes or some sort of battle attire along with flowing cloth from her arm guards, her fingers dangerously sharp and also black with the same substance.
But her head looked ridiculous. I did not even know how to describe it beyond the crescent shape on top of everything and the fact that her hair, if she even had hair instead of all of it being the same damn black substance, in two rings hanging from a silly looking head ornament that vaguely reminded of horns if one was to squint hard enough. It wasn't a crown, it wasn't practical in any way from what I could tell and it was absolutely distracting even as she approached me with a confident sway to her hips and watched me with slitted eyes.
The Caster was also alive and unharmed, floating tauntingly with one leg bare and a draping dress I hadn't really had time to appreciate in any of the events we had ended up encountering each other in. At least the ornaments on top of her hood, which was still covering her face, actually looked like horns…
Fighting all three was… Not going to be easy, if even possible. Even just two could be troublesome considering I technically killed one already. Will have killed one? Time is complicated. As for the offer… "Punish your sister for attacking me and I might even consider it." Oh wow, I was not entirely sure how I managed to actually say that out loud.
"You little—" Megaera did not take kindly to that.
"Your methods fail us, Megaera." Yet she was stopped from going further with an almost aggressive hand on her shoulder. "I will take care of him. He will come with us." I was not entirely sure if I liked the tone of voice she used as she grabbed the side of my face and forced me to look her in the eyes.
Yet before she could do anything else… "I should have done this a long time ago." Another one shows up! Behind me.
"Orkos?" Thank you for telling me. "So this is what you align with, Vortigern?" Oi, ain't he your son? And he aligns with me.
"This time, you will fail." Without giving room for any argument and with a sudden shift, Orkos teleported himself and me away somewhere inside, away from the Furies and out of the ink. "You will never reach the Eyes now that my mother knows you are after them." He continued explaining, not even giving me time to get off the ground. "This power…" Something started to form in his hands. "Helped me escape the Hecatonchires." He made… A familiar looking heart-shaped object. I stole that from the bird… So I guess it wasn't its heart after all. "If you do not succeed, my fate is sealed regardless."
He gave the object to me. "…Thanks…" Though I had managed to say what I had to the furies, somehow I found myself unable to ask him to talk slower. They were being rude, but he was trying to be nice at the least. That had to count for something, didn't it?
"Alecto has destroyed the only path that leads to the lantern…" Which one was that again? "But it was before I could have even told you how to even get to it." Maybe back on the boat? "But… But now you will simply need to find a new way." He did not explain further and just vanished. So he can still do that even without this thing, huh…
[Oath Stone of Orkos
Type: Stone
Quality: B
A painful symbol of his own terrible bond as the Oath Keeper of the Furies. This stone allowed Orkos to be in two places at once]
Sufficient focus on it caused it to activate, creating an copy of myself that looked like Orkos had all the way back when I first met him. This copy however just sort of stood there. It didn't move, it didn't even seem to be breathing… But it was probably going to be a nice distraction considering it created the copy right where I was standing and moved me just barely to the side while doing so. The lizards were unleashed to explore the area ahead while I messed around with the Oath Stone, trying to figure out how to best make it work.
There seemed to be some level of innate knowledge and capability within the items. I could not really used the [Blades of Chaos] as well as Kratos could, nor could I use the [Amulet of Uroborus], transferred as its powers were, to the same extent as Castor could; by extension, there should be some innate capacity within the Oath Stone to allow me the same functions as Orkos himself had. Or so I chose to believe for the time being.
The lizards were more productive than my beliefs. They found another Gorgon Eye, which completed yet another set and increased my HP by another thousand, as well as a chisel of sorts. It didn't look like much and I was not sure why they brought it, but a notification came up when I held it.
[Stonemason's Chisel
Type: Tool
Quality: D
Bestowed by Archimedes, the inscription reads: 'Give me a place to stand on and I will move the earth'. Grants [Item Creation] skill if it is not already present, levels it up if it is]
[Skill Obtained!
[Item Construction Lv.1/?] – The Skill to manufacture magical and mundane items, from implements of war to items for daily use, be they machinery, toys or even the Philosopher's Stone]
Oh… How… Mundane? I was pretty sure I hadn't missed any other items before this, but if something this simple was enough to give this sort of bonus, I was not as sure. There wasn't really all that much to pick up either… Though I was still looting valuables and they hadn't given me anything like this. With a sigh, I decided to just keep going, as well as leveling up a certain skill. It hadn't shown up immediately and in the heat of battle and pain it had been ignored, but [Space Magic] did give me a starting skill.
[[Designated Space Lv.1/10] – A starter skill. An illusionary set of lines is created, forming a shape that can be changed and moved around. The shape does nothing. All the skill does is create an outline which does nothing but outlines certain things. Remember to color within the lines!]
Using the skill did as advertised, a cube forming in my vision that was moved around as I focused further. It could be stretched, moved around, but it did not actually do anything. It was not solid, it moved through solid things though I was not sure if it actually reached the other end as I did not see through solid objects. It did nothing but designate a space. It was a bit of a silly skill, but if it would level up the greater skill and allow for easier learning of other ones, then I saw no reason not to do it. It even cost no MP at that.
I also remembered to try another one. The Infinity Stone had reverted to the Amulet due to the timeline fitting like that, but the basic powers were pretty much the same so…
[[Time Magic Lv.1/10] – The school of magic which focuses on the control of time. Rate of learning and improving Spells and Skills related to time is increased as this skill progresses. In turn, as Spells and Skill related to time are learned and improved, this skill gradually levels up]
This did not give me a starting skill, but I had the Infinity Stone and the Amulet, so they would probably have some usefulness toward leveling up the skill.
Following the path, or at least what I assumed to be the path, ended up leading me back to where I had 'recruited' the Centaurus, the presence of new enemies, a Soul Cerberus, an Amazon and some dogs, being the only thing telling me that I was in the right spot… Though I was pretty sure this massive chain was not like that before. Maybe it had moved recently? Either way, my Amazon Dragon was summoned to deal with her counterpart, who was also missing a boob, while I stole another Cerberus to 'recruit' at a later point.
At some point I would have to unleash my 'allies' in a serious fight, but I knew that once they were dead, they wouldn't just come back which made me very cautious. The Furies would have definitely killed them and I was not yet desperate or cruel enough to use them as meat shields. On top of that, I was not certain either about what would happen to the Cerberus once corrupted, thus I haven't tried anything on them, choosing instead to do my best to wait for a skill to tame them as they were instead for the sake of retaining their appearance.
A fifth Phoenix Feather was soon obtained as well, completing yet another set and putting me all the way up to six hundred thousand MP, though after that… I was faced with the path I had definitely been to before, as well as an elevator mechanic that seemed to require two individuals to function all the way with another opening all the way up. God damn game mechanics that require you to go back to previous areas with new mechanics… It was confusing enough to travel without those.
Simply stepping on one of the pressure plates caused a dozen goat men to show up out of nowhere, to which I responded by sending Lia out to play. It was not really necessary, but she was on my mind due to the previous line of thought. This should be a safe enough area to fight and she was one of the few who actually had the space to fight here.
As expected, Lia took care of the enemies nicely as well while the elevator got higher and higher, rotating and pretty much trying to roast us alive due to built-in flamethrowers in the walls that never seemed to run out of fire. They failed in their purpose, if that even was their purpose and I chose to just ignore the physics of how that could even function or how long they had been ignited for since they were there and active from the start…
Lia and I made it to the top safely though and she was sent back to wherever it is exactly they go when the skill is used, leaving me all the way up at the chest of the Statue, incomplete as it was. From there… My only real way of trying to guide myself was following conveniently placed hooks that would have been used to swing on otherwise. At least I was starting to really fly properly… Unsure as I was why I hadn't gotten a skill for it…
{Do you have a skill for running or walking?}
"Uh… No." Why didn't I have a skill for those anyway? I was pretty sure there were skillful ways of walking and running, as well as those lacking skill… Ugh… Ah, whatever. The additional will only gave me more mental capacity to question things it seems and it was starting to annoy me.
All I could do was guess that not absolutely everything can be a skill and abandon the line of thought, in which I was further assisted as one of the big goat men tried to ram me when I touched down on a platform, which let me just side-step him at which point he simply ran off the edge. I laughed. Another one showed up and successfully rammed me off. I stopped laughing. He stopped living.
Blood Echoed after that, giving me some more vague impressions of the enemy types, but I had forgotten to use it after the elevator, the time window having apparently passed already on that. It was a shame as well, though maybe I wouldn't have even gotten the benefit from Lia having fought in my stead. At least I was pretty sure I would have been able to fight these big goats better if not for the fact I was still quite capable of killing them in one to five hits depending on if I used a Form or not.
Going further into the statue, I found what I was pretty sure was some sort of factory or some similar structure. I supposed it did make sense. They would have to do a lot of things on site and all that, so having it be here instead of having it shipped would be far more efficient. What made a bit less sense was a Cyclops coming to greet me in the same way all monsters around here did. He died like the rest and I obtained six more Manticore eggs, remembering to use [Echoes of Blood] this time.
In theory, not killing everything in one hit would have given me more Red Orbs, but… At this point, the feeling of power and dismissal from dealing with everyone, short of a Fury or Castor, with only a hit or a single skill, was getting a bit intoxicating… Though that might have been leaking Sadism.
After that however I had to, once again, figure out the correct sequence of events and requirements to progress the normal way as this factory… No, it didn't seem to be a factory as much as a… Forge? Or I was simply holding it to far too modern standards, expecting to see conveyor belts and all that… Whatever it was, it was designed with what seemed to be carefully fitted mechanisms and cogs and all that. If even a single thing was out of place, the whole thing might not end up working so I couldn't just skip ahead without risking a notable amount of frustration.
[Archimedes' Treatise
Type: Documents
Quality: D
A collection of Archimedes theorems on mathematics and engineering. Grants [Item Creation] skill if it is not already present, levels it up if it is]
[Skill Level Up!
Item Construction: 1 -> 2]
Well… That's neat. It was slightly offset by the fact that there was a corpse nearby. From the papers around him, and the state of decay he was in, it was Archimedes and he had been dead for a considerable amount of time, having died working and with no one around to bury his body or even move it. Maybe putting it in my inventory was not the best choice, but who knows what sort of situations I was going to get into later down the line.
After several minutes of pushing some stuff around, igniting some very burnable material that was left over, melting down gold with it… The whole furnace was activated… Ignited in a way I probably could have done on my own, but as I did not know that was what I was supposed to do, I could not really complain that much, just follow the very vague clues left for me…
The activation of the Forge was further followed by more enemies spawning even if it probably would have made more sense for them to simply crawl out of their hiding spots with the heat returning. Among the new wave of enemies was another Lamia which was quickly turned into a second Lamia Dragon, or well, currently only one considering Lia was a hybrid. The rest of the enemies were killed. I probably could corrupt everything in my way, but that would cost me even more MP and it was rather obvious that bosses could show up out of nowhere. I also did not really want to take everything and everyone with me, for better or for worse.
As I returned, for the sake of continuing, to where his corpse was, I noted that he apparently died right next to a very particular heat exhaust pillar which spewed fire and released enough heat it lifted metal at regular intervals. The corpse probably would have been cremated if I hadn't taken him with me… Would that have been a better fate? I was not sure. Depends on what I do with the body. Maybe I can cremate him myself and spread his ashes from the top of the statue… Or just throw him into the forge as punishment for his crimes.
Fittingly for what was, as far as I recalled, the final area aside for the final boss, enemies started becoming more numerous, showing up in larger groups to be more precise since I doubted they could have shown up more times than they already had been doing…
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone