Another Step Forward

Kantan spent time recovering next to the demonic snake, keeping his still functioning hand on the cooling body. The scales were oddly warm despite the demon being reptile in form. Veri was busy manipulating the chi he was pushing out of his body, collecting the valuable genetic material he would need to further his body's evolution. This process was taking significantly longer due to the demonic snake being much larger than the imp's had been.

The prolonged process was draining him considerably more when it came to his mental focus, especially given the pain his injuries was causing. If the energy he would get from harvesting its corpse wasn't going to speed up his recovery, he wouldn't have buckled down and forced them to collect it. As the absorption had begun to pick up in pace, the energy traveled throughout his body with a warm yet electrifying feeling. This time the energy seemed to focus slightly on his musculature, while the other parts of his body were effected to a lesser degree.

The pain in his right arm began to fade as more and more energy filtered its way into his body. What he found weird was that the amount of energy wasn't much more than what the imp had given, despite the fact that imps were much smaller than the demonic snake he had just fought. He wanted to inquire on it, but he could feel that Veri's focus was entirely used up on the process of absorbing the snake. It was easier for him to spare some attention on other things since all he needed to do was maintain the correct flow of chi.

Once he reached the right amount, it only took a medium amount of attention to maintain it, allowing him to reflect on how the last fight had gone. 'That fight was hard for multiple reasons, the most important of which was my lack of a weapon. If I had something with a longer reach, I could have maintained distance while also launching attacks while I dodged.' When he thought about how Lyra would have handled the fight, he knew he was correct. He had always stuck to fighting hand to hand due to the principle of not always having a weapon. The problem he was now facing was that his claws required a different style of combat than his standard fist and grapple operated. He was able to adapt some of it, using an open palm in place of a fist.

Kantan counted himself lucky that the snake wasn't able to launch the quills that had riddled its back, or it would have been exceptionally hard to close the distance. Even if he had managed to close the distance, his attack still would have come at a cost. He wasn't even sure if he could have gotten the attack successfully if he had gotten injured during the charge. Not to mention the fact that it's larger size allowed it to generate significantly more force than he could, even if his body was technically more evolved.

Realizing that he wouldn't always have fine tuned details on his enemy's capabilities, Kantan went through his memory of the fight with a different perspective. This time he thought on the demon's presence, the weight of its chi. He hadn't been able to sense it to start due to the hills hiding its energy signature. After it had charged at him, he hadn't the mental space to also analyze it especially since he was new to the process.

Given the demon was a rank 1 creature, he knew that the sum total of its capabilities were equal to that of the imps. Each body had different strengths and weaknesses, as proven by the erthi he had fought after he had evolved. The rock-like shell it had been forming required brute force instead of finesse, yet it was still slow. On the flip side, the snake's body had given way to his attack easily, even the quills themselves were brittle and structurally weak. Its speed though was outstanding when paired with its control of its body.

Kantan had known that his only chance to harm the creature without any prior knowledge was to ensure that he couldn't miss. By letting himself get hurt, he could force the snake to stay still. It was risky, but if it worked than he would come out on top. As the energy coursed through him, and the body of the snake slowly disintegrated, Kantan began to feel his body pushing forward toward his next evolution.

His muscles seemed to snake beneath his skin and a fine sense of control was overcoming him. An overwhelming sense of balance washed throughout his senses as each small accidental muscular vibration stilled. No part of his body was moving without his intent, not even his heartbeat could cause him to tremor. It was shocking and euphoric at the same time to feel such a specific change, especially compared to how the imp's genetic potential seemed to leave him only feeling stronger overall.

The snakes potential barely affected his body outside of the musculature, leading to the change being focused instead of spread out. It was also the first of its kind he had absorbed, so its affect should have been as pronounced as it was going to get. The process took about twice as long as it had with the imp, but the effect had only grown more pronounced over time.

Once the last dregs of Kantan's chi paired with the genetic material of the demonic snake entered his body, the energy flared once and then settled completely. There was another release of impurities this time, confirming that he had raised his rank by .1. Kantan asked Veri to do a quick scan of his body just to make sure, and her results came back as they had expected.

"Thanks for taking care of the absorption process, I am still working on steeling my stomach. Its one thing to find food prepared, or needing to be cooked. I've never been the hunter or the butcher that deals with dead carcasses." Kantan was sincere in his appreciation, as he knew through their bond that absorbing demon's at her current power level was very draining on her focus. It was a crude method to start, and he wasn't experienced enough in manipulating his chi to handle the process or help at all. It took more than enough effort on his part just to power the processing cloud of demonic chi for her.

"I would say that I understand, but that would only belittle your feelings. I've had to experience death for thousands of years, as it is a direct requirement for any dungeon to grow. It doesn't help that I've never had to eat something conventionally. The least I can do is take some of the burden." While her usual tone was sarcastic, it now contained a real sense of sincerity. "Speaking of, your end of the deal is over by the doorway."

Kantan moved to the top of the nearest hill and scanned the walls for the doorway to the next room. The wounds on his arm had healed any serious damage by using some of the energy the snake had provided. Absorbing a creature had drastically sped up his recovery time, as his body had the direct resources and energy needed to fix itself. When he mixed the resources, energy, and Veri's control his wound healed remarkably fast. Now that he had reached rank 1.4 his body had completed another step toward rank 2, which would put him on par with a stone rank warrior with his body alone. That would also allow him to store more chi within Veri, even if he did not undergo a warrior's rebirth.

Both of them were still unsure if he would undergo a physical rebirth due to chi when they increased in rank. Currently they could store a peak base rank amount of energy, as if they were at the door to stone rank and just needed another push. They had tried to store a bit more chi than Veri was currently limiting herself to, but the result had left him in the fetal position. There was too much power and according to Veri his flesh and skin had begun to disintegrate as his cells exploded.

Once Kantan found the misty doorway leading to the next room, he also saw a small contraption on the ground next to it. After getting a bit closer to it he was able to make it out a bit clearer, leaving him slightly confused. Laying on the ground was a silver bracer with platinum and gold inlays that hummed with a noticeable amount of power. As he approached it he could feel the weight of its energy passively pushing against him. It was almost like it could sense that he was there, and it was analyzing him.

"What the heck is this thing?"