New Strength

The sudden shift in the beast's movement caught Luke off guard, causing him to practically leap out of the way. The husk surged past him, as he hit the ground on his side, fueled by adrenaline he scrambled to get to his feet.

Already the beast had turned around to face him once more, seeming more aware of his presence and the last two of its kind had been. Again, it leapt, this time just as Luke was turning around to face the beast. Almost instinctively Luke swung his left arm as he turned, practically mentally begging his chain to appear. To his relief the long metal length did appear in his hand and was already uncoiled from his arm and swinging. It was as if the chain had reacted to what he wanted, as if it were tied to his reflexes.

The metal chain slammed into the beast from the side, hitting the husk with far more force than even Luke had predicted. The beast slammed into the side of the wall as if struck by a hammer, a black crater forming in its side where the metal had impacted it. A spray of rotten meat flew into the air, splattering against the stone floor.

It seemed the chain was not just longer than the last one had been, but it was also capable of delivering far more force as well. Even so the husk acted as if it had not felt the impact, immediately landing on its knees, one of its arms, the one that collided with the wall had broken and was hanging limp. Unlike the last beast, this one immediately sprung to its feet in a ferocious leap, its one good arm outstretched towards Luke's midsection.

Quickly back stepping, Luke swung out with his left chain, it appeared instantly just as the right one had. Yet as he swung the chain, he hadn't considered the wall beside him, the tip of the chain bounced off the stone while only a piece of the base knocked the husk's leap off course.

Cursing silently, Luke forced his right chain to disappear as he cocked his hand back for another swing. The chain vanished instantly, before reappearing as he swung it once more towards the beast's head. This time he made sure to only summon half the chain, as the creature was far closer to him than it had been before. The creature had just landed from its leap and begun to turn towards him when the chain struck the side of its head.

Due to only half the chain being put into the strike, the blow was far weaker than his first. Yet that didn't matter as he finished his swing and immediately followed up with a backhanded swing with his right arm. The result was far more devastating with the follow up, as a huge chunk of the creature's skin splattered from the impact. Through his omniscience he could see a crack had formed in the husk's skull.

Again, the husk's seeming inability to feel pain came into play, as even though it was rocked to the side from the force of the blow. It almost immediately continued its pursuit towards Luke, causing him to have to roll to the side before the beast reached him.

Creating some distance from the dead creature, Luke stood facing the creature, this time with his left arm finally open to swing. Chain already summoned, he swung with all his might letting the momentum of the swing reach its maximum. Unlike his first swing, this blow managed to hit the creature in its head.

The whipping chain slammed into the creature's head, tearing through it as if it were made of butter. Without the ability to look away, Luke was forced to watch as the husk's skin, skull, and brain matter was torn apart under the force of the metal links. Instantly the husk's entire head seemingly evaporated, splattering gore across the stone wall to the beast's right.

In his horror, Luke instinctively made both his chain vanish, the guts that were clinging to the metal falling to the floor. While he had already experienced the gore that came from killing the husks, he had never seen anything as gory as what he had just done to the beast.

Luke felt himself grow nauseous for a moment and had to take several deep breaths to prevent himself from throwing up.

Not even a moment later a screen appeared in his mind congratulating him for the kill.

"Congratulations, you have slain a human husk. Your soul is being tempered."

Soul tempering until next rank: [25/100]

The reminder that the creature that he had just decapitated had once been human did not help his stomach.

After a few moments, he finally gained control of himself enough to allow himself to breathe.

It felt strange to him that this kill had bothered him so much more than the last two, even if it was done in a way more ghastly way. Luke wanted to avoid looking at the creature, and yet had no choice as his omniscience filled in on the harrowing details of the husk's corpse.

'I'm gonna have to get used to this sight', he realized, as he suddenly began to regret his earlier optimism.

In his excitement to be able to use magic, he seemed to have forgotten the full extent of his horrifying situation. The exploding head shook him out of that excitement and reminded him of just how real the events that were happening to him were.

'At least the chains work well', he thought darkly.

Luke forced his mind away from what he had just done, focusing on the contents of the notification he had just read.

'I only gain five of the soul tempering points from killing this creature, and yet it was likely the most dangerous foe I've faced so far', he realized.

Not only that but the system had only called it a human husk, not an elite one like the armored member of its species. That meant that the danger the creatures posed wasn't what decided the number of points they gave him.

It seemed there was more to the whole gaining strength portion of this world than just simply killing things. Apparently even if the system called one creature stronger than the other, that didn't mean it was the most dangerous of the two. That wasn't an entirely surprising point, as the same idea could very well be applied to his own world.

'A lion is larger and stronger than a venomous snake, but the former could be considered more deadly', he thought with a grimace.

Luckily, he had gotten through the fight without taking any wounds. Though with how fast the creature had struck he very well could have gotten killed. Luke had acted dumbly, having gotten confident after slaying the armored beast so easily. If he had come out swinging with the chain, he might have finished the beast before it had a chance to kill him.

Chiding himself, Luke quickly began to walk down the hall in hopes of finding a door. The action also served to get him away from the corpse he had created, but it also served as a danger in case something had heard his deadly fight.

Despite the risk, Luke had already decided he would continue forward until he found supplies. So he made sure to keep an ear out for any sign of approaching danger, as he left the harrowing scene behind.

Luke felt a sense of relief when he finally came upon a door leading out of the hallway. After checking that the extent of his hand was clear on the other side of the double doors, he quickly opened them and moved through.

On the other side of the door, Luke found himself in a room so large that he couldn't see the ceiling. Ears burning as he tried to make out any sound, he stepped into the room cautiously while hoping to make out any walls or furniture. For a while there was nothing but the bare stone ground beneath him. The result was that he began to feel truly blind once more, since omniscience could only make out things within his range.

Uncomfortable with his inability to make anything out, Luke moved cautiously to his right until he found a wall. It was riddled with broken wood on the floor, from what he took to be some sort of decoration in the past. Moving along the side of the wall, Luke came across two empty tables, one of which was broken while the other stood on feeble legs. On one was an old, rusted pitcher, though the liquid inside had long dried up.

That made Luke think the room was a cafeteria, or feast hall of sorts. Though without the ability to see, or the desire to leave the wall that served as his guide he wasn't willing to find out.

Continuing to move down the wall, he quickly came to corner of the room, which led to another wall. When he reached the corner, he only had to move along the new wall for a few moments before an old wooden door appeared in his abilities range. Luke was tempted to continue exploring the room, but in the end decided against it. There was too much risk with the room, as the lack of furniture made it easier for him to get lost.

Stepping against the door, he made an effort to view the interior of the room. Immediately he felt relieved as the ceiling was much lower to the ground, and he could make out the corner of an old wooden table.

Opening the door quietly, Luke winced at the sound of scraping hinges as the old wood moved inwards. The wince quickly turned to a flinch as he heard a sound of commotion coming from inside the room, as something began to move towards him quickly.

***

Luke wasted no time, as he quickly summoned a small length of chain and turned his hand in a circle to wrap it around his knuckles. A husk clad in what Luke thought to be tattered leather armor rushed him. There was a sword and dagger on its belt, but it made no move to draw either.

When the creature finally reached Luke, he was ready. He had chosen to lead the beast out and into the open space of the larger room. Doing so by taking a step backwards and causing the creature to follow him.

Once outside the space, Luke swung with his left chain. Though he had aimed for the creature's head, he struck a bit too high causing his chain to pass over the husk's head. Dismissing his chain, he raised his right fist which was already wrapped and ready and struck the creature as it met him. The force of the creatures charge along with his one punch caused Luke to take a stumbling step backwards. With the creature still moving forwards, Luke quickly raised his right foot and front kicked the husk in the chest.

The kick would have sent any normal person moving at that speed to the ground, gasping for air. Yet for the creature it only served to make it stumble, gritting his teeth Luke swung out his left hand, his chain appearing instantly as he did.

Metal struck the creature's flesh, the blow landing right above its cheek and sending the creature sprawling to the ground. Luke followed up the attack by raising his right hand and striking down with all his strength. The chain that had been around his knuckles had already been dismissed was now replaced with it full length.

The hasty blow caught the creature on its neck, decimating it with a loud crunching noise. Luke didn't stop there as he could still make out the husk's brain pulses, this time taking a split second to aim his strike as best he could. He swung down again, this time with his left chain. The blow landed on the creature's temples and burst its head apart like a melon.

Heart still racing from almost dying, Luke found himself breathing deeply as he examined the corpse through his mind's eye.

While the gore made him uncomfortable, he handled it far better than he had handled the last corpse. He supposed that could be a sign of his adapting to his situation, though he tried not to think too far into it.

What he did acknowledge was just how alive he felt, with the adrenaline from the short fight still racing through him.

'I think… I think I'm getting better at this', he thought, a slim smile appearing on his lips.

That smile was quickly knocked away by the sound of something clattering on the ground in the room the first beast had come from. Luke quickly recalled his chains to coil back in his arms as he waited for something to come through the door he had just stepped away from. Only nothing did, in the room he could make out the sound of something scraping against stone, along with a dragging noise.

After waiting another second to be sure nothing was going to leap out at him, Luke carefully began to step towards the room in question. When he reached the door, he still couldn't make out anything, so without overthinking too much he stepped inside the doorway.

It was only after he made it halfway into the room that he made out what had caused the noise. A husk clad in an old dress lay on the ground, using its hand to drag itself towards him with fierce desperation. Its left leg was missing at the hip, while its right leg somehow appeared even more frail than the rest of its body.

Frowning at the image of the pitiful creature, Luke was surprised to find that he felt… bad for it. This creature was trying with all it had to reach him and rip him to ribbons with its long black nails, and yet just the image of it made him feel sad. Perhaps it was because it had once been a human, or at least he guessed it had. Or maybe it was simply how much the husk struggled to move, either way Luke felt himself drawn out of his former adrenaline.

Pressing his lips together tightly as he contemplated his emotion, he eventually let out a sigh.

'Feeling bad for something trying to kill me, I really am losing', he thought with resolve.

Then he took a step towards the creature while summoning his chain to wrap around his hand. Two punches later and the creature lay still, its desperate crawl brought to an end. As he stepped away from the creature, Luke found himself feeling strangely ashamed.

"Congratulations, you have slain the human husk of an adept. Your soul is being tempered.

Soul tempering until next rank: [35/100]

"Congratulations, you have slain a human husk. Your soul is being tempered.

Soul tempering until next rank: [40/100]"