Bab 22: Unjust Rewards
"What a beautiful day." The cheery voice echoed in the dark cathedral-like cavern.
A single torch laying on the ground, cast a faint glow on a solitary figure. The twisted smile, just visible in the torch's light, cut an irregular pattern across the man's face. His narrow slanted eyes and oddly deep, melodious voice completed an image that could only be summed up with a single word; unnatural.
The narrow slanted eyes, similar to a reptile, would give a sense of wrongness to those who saw them. The low voice, that seemed to reverberate in one's chest, though smooth, felt forced. And the sharp toothy smile, which one would expect from a tiger before it devoured its prey, caused his face to contort like it was fighting against an expression it had never made before.
'That took longer than I expected.' Rackshar thought happily. 'That kid may have been little more than a worthless human, but I'll give him one thing, he had a tough soul.'
The twisted smile on Rackshar's face widened even more. 'Not that it matters now!'
Rackshar began to move around stretching his newfound body.
"Hm? Completely unacceptable." He said after a few minutes. His cheery tone betraying his disdainful words. "Not only did I get stuck in a human body, but a pathetic one, at that."
He reached over his shoulder and ripped the Abyssal Fear's claw out of his back; his expression unflinching.
'Still, I have to take care of this body since it has to get me to the Dragon Spring.' Rackshar thought seriously. 'And it may hold just enough secrets to be interesting for awhile.' He glanced down at his right hand that espoused Elroth's stolen core.
'It's not as bad as it was though. What was it that kid called them again?' Rachshar thought, tapping his chin. 'Oh right, statistics! I actually like this trick.'
Writing of light blazed across his vision:
Dragons Body: +10
Dragon's Body Amplification: +10%
[Strength: 17.6] (4 -> 6) + 10 + 1.6
[Dexterity: 17.6] (6 -> 6) + 10 + 1.6
[Constitution: 16.5] (3 -> 5) + 10 + 1.5
[Stamina: 22] (6 -> 10) + 10 + 2
[Intelligence: 0], *snicker*
[Magic: Crippled]
'So, now this body has 10% dragon's blood. Still not a full dragonborn, but it's a little better than a normal human. I'll have to be careful around warriors though.' Rackshar looked thoughtfully at the results for a brief moment.
Then he turned and began to head toward the crevasse that Kaleb had entered from, pausing only to collect the still flickering torch. He swiftly made his way back to the main cavern and stopping just outside the crevasse.
The slight crackle of the torch was the only sound to break the silence, its light casting a faint glow, illuminating only emptiness.
'It must have taken me longer to gather control than I thought. The game of cat and mouse has already moved away again.'
Rackshar calmly walked till the torch revealed two bloody splotches, one staining the ground and the other staining the wall. There was no trace of the bodies that had contributed to make the stains.
'Hmm?' Rackshar walked over and crouched in front of the blood stained wall. 'Collecting the older human's body for the cores makes sense, but why also collect the smaller human?'
He stroked the bloody wall, his eyes thoughtful.
'He definitely didn't have any cores, or I would have noticed.' he thought, perplexed.
Rackshar came to his feet and swiftly began to make his way through the cavern.
'It was probably for some pathetic human reason, like sentiment.' He decided, dismissing the thought with a wave of his hand.
'Now the real question is,' A sharp smile spread across his face, 'am I going deeper or heading out?'
He tried to draw some conclusions from the hunters path, but even that was a bad indicator. Rackshar didn't know whether they were going farther up, or farther down when they first retreated. After all, their options had been limited by the Abyssal Fears in their way.
Also, they had decided to come back. Was that solely to circle back for their comrade or was it because they had been going the wrong way and they had collected their companion on the way back toward the right path?
'Either way is fine with me.' Rackshar thought as he made his way confidently down the route he had chosen at random. 'Down leads to rewards, up leads to freedom. Though, even if I go down this body couldn't make it to the bottom in its current condition.'
******
The afternoon sun shone brightly, causing Rackshar to squint as he came out of the cave. He looked around at the dazzling meadow of flowers with a pleasantly amused expression.
'How boring.'
The journey out of the tomb had taken only a few hours, during which Rackshar had encountered nothing: no monsters, nor traps, nor team of Hunters.
'How pathetic. They had this much trouble on the first level of the tomb.' Rachshar looked back at the cave, his eyes thoughtful. 'Still, if this much Dragon's blood was a first level reward then it might be worth coming back here once I've honed this body.'
Rackshar's eyes wandered as he looked around his surroundings.
'If they aren't out yet, that means they actually came back from the entrance to save their companion and then fled deeper into the tomb. They actually could have made it to the entrance if they had abandoned that idiot. Now there's no chance they escape the Abyssal Fears. I'll never understand human stupidity.'
As Rackshar's eyes roamed the tomb entrance, an evil smile split his face like a jagged knife. He began to make his way to the cliff face.
'No harm in making sure though.' He thought as he began to climb the cliff next to the entrance.
He made his way up the rocky surface slowly, but with little effort, coming to a stop on a wide ledge a dozen meters above the tomb entrance. Jamming his hand into a large crack near the edge he braced himself carefully.
The explosion tore though the air, echoing for miles, but it was quickly drowned out as a large boulder broke free from the cliff, cascading down with enough violence to cause the mountain to shake. Dust and debris erupted from the impact, blanketing the forest with a thick haze.
Rackshar looked on the scene from his perch atop what remained of the ledge, his sharp smile never wavering as he watched the haze clear. The landslide had completely buried the tomb entrance under tons of solid rock. There was no trace of the once vibrant meadow, having been ravaged by the impact. What little of Ameri's monument that hadn't been buried was blown away.
'With this, no one will take what is mine before I return to claim it.' Rackshar thought as he climbed down the land slide.
He paused at the bottom looking at his handy work with a self satisfied look on his face.
"I told you I would see you in hell, bitch." He said, turning away and walking into the forest.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone