Chapter 10
Archivuald sat on a log around the ice covered remains of the fire with his elbows on his knees, all the while drumming his claws in the wood.What to do? Things had gone to shit faster than he could have imagined. Archivuald had already packed up his tent, gathering what supplies he could.
He rifled through both Yurlans and Parcival's tents, finding roughly twenty silvers, and the remains of the Nexus they harvested inside the rift.
If he bargained hard, it should go for another twenty five silvers at least. Roughly forty five silvers in all, a sizable sum of coin.
If he could survive long enough to reach civilization, he might be able to secure his own new papers. Finding the right person to forge them for him wasn't going to be easy, but then again, when was anything ever simple?
Letting out a sigh that made the air fill with ice crystals, he stood, slinging his backpack on one shoulder. Getting use to his much taller, gangly frame was going to take some adjustment. After stuffing everything in his pack, and ransacking the camp of anything useful, he started towards the pass, his new ax slung in a loop of his belt.
It was still dark out, but his vision was good enough that he could easily navigate the forest. Not exactly perfect night vision, but much better than his base human form.
He moved through the forest cautiously each step sending sharp pain up his leg. He had considered returning to his human form, but quickly dismissed it. Being able to heal his injuries would have been nice, but he would lose his enhanced senses. In this place, at night, a human's poor senses could easily get him killed. Hopefully Parcival ran off a cliff or something.
The thought made him smile. If only he were that lucky. As he moved, the cool air seemed to follow him, frost gathering in his wake. Perhaps that was the downside of his divine curse? Everything seemed to freeze in his wake, and he couldn't turn it off. That would be an issue for sure, since the domain expanded about twenty meters in every direction.
The change wasn't quick enough to be an attack in a rapid battle, but it would hinder opponents in a drawn out fight.
Surprisingly, the essence cost to stay in his current form was negligible. Archivuald hadn't expected that. He had thought it would be a burst of strength for a short time, not a form he could stay in for as long as he pleased.
He would obviously have to revert to his human form eventually. Entering a human city like this would be asking for trouble. He would raise a lot of eyebrows, turning the streets into ice, radiating a bitter chill. That was okay though. He wouldn't reach the nearest city for quite a while, and that hunger seemed to grow stronger with each minute. Perhaps he should hunt a few mountain Vock along the way? The thought made a toothy grin split his face, a decidedly monstrous grin. He regained his stride, his injured leg hardly registering in his mind.
The night was young, and that hunger urged him on….Archivauld had to admit, things might have gotten a little out of hand.
A small flock of iron ram ran up the sheer rock face, running away as the mountain Vock hooted in pain. Using his long limbs and agile frame to his advantage, Archivauld weaved and dodged around the much slower and bulkier monster, his axe gouging into fur with each blow.
His new body hadn't all of a sudden made him an unstoppable killing machine, but it had made him stronger and faster than before.
His icy domain was also quickly making the footing of his opponent precarious. His own clawed toes found easy purchase on the icy rock, his axe tearing into fur and muscle alike, hot blood steaming as it spattered onto the rocks.
This was the fourth mountain Vock he had killed in the past evening, and even that was not near enough to sate his hunger. It was growing unbearable. Perhaps that was the drawback of his current form?
The mountain Vock let out an angry hoot. Having fell upon the monster in its nest, it had backed it into a corner, and unable to flee up the sheer rock like those goats, it tried to crush him with raw strength.
Tall with corded muscle, he deftly sidestepped the blow. Pain shot up his leg as he stepped in, lodging his bearded ax into its neck, the sharp weapon easily cutting through fur and lodging into its spinal column. It dropped like a sac of bricks, falling back, letting out a disgusting gurgle.
Chest heaving from the battle, he set about the grizzly task of harvesting its essence stone. Delaying too long would have the unfortunate outcome of the corpse turning into a corpuscule.
Ice shards were already forming on its fur, the blood quickly freezing. Bound for time, he swung his ax several times to gouge out a hole in its chest. Hot blood spattered his body, but he couldn't bring himself to care about being covered in gore.
He reached his clawed hand inside the hole and pulled out a knight tier essence stone. A toothy smile tugged at his lips as he wiped the essence stone on the monster's grey fur.
Staring down at the valuable commodity, he frowned thoughtfully.
What to use it on? Should he keep trying to progress his current form to knight tier, or did he awaken a second curse? So far, his first divine curse had been a smashing success. It was no wonder that the top dogs of the inner expanse were usually blessing or curse holders.
No two were alike, each unique to the holder, some more powerful than others. Archivauld hesitated. There were obvious downsides to his current form, like the perpetual icy domain, and the insatiable bloodlust, but the benefits more than made up for it.
Awakening another curse could give him the power he needed to fight the nightingale that was still following him.
It seemed content to eat the monsters he had been killing for now, but he knew from experience that it would eventually come after him again. Even with his newly acquired power, he wasn't confident in a victory.
Gritting his monstrous teeth, Archivuald made his choice. The essence stone shattered, and he funneled it into the second eye of the dark god. He braced himself as the second eye from the left opened.
A raspy voice, one that would make his worst nightmares cower in terror, filled his mind. "The Eye of the dark god opens, those who look into its depths will see the horrors of the true abyss,"
Archivauld staggered, the pain even more shocking than he could remember.
Just like last time, the voice words quickly faded, as if being erased from his mind. It was a good thing to, as a mere mortal mind would likely collapse if he had to live with remembering such a terrible voice. Archivauld shuddered, his cold heart beating loudly in his chest.
He reached under his shirt, running a clawed finger across the newly awakened curse. The emblem inside the node was just as complex as the first, though in a completely different way. The feeling it gave off was also different.
Well, no way to know what it did until he tried it out. Archivauld glanced around, finding nothing more of interest on the rock face. No more monsters within easy reach, unless he was a mountain goat. Chasing Iran rams up that rock face was likely to be his end. He chose life, thank you very much. Instead, he started back down the scree slope.
He should really get going. Parcival was likely already in the expanse, given he had stayed ahead thus far. Archivauld was hot on his trail, his new sense of smell giving him a fairly distinct trail to follow.
Even with his occasional detour to harvest some essence, Archivauld was making good time. Even after a full night, and day of pursuit, he still hadn't seen the slippery eel..
Parcival must be exhausted, pushing himself at a punishing pace. Archivauld's new form had more endurance than his old one, even so, it wasn't tireless. He still needed to rest, eat, and recover.
The fact he couldn't use his holy orb to heal his injuries was also a pain in the ass. His leg and side still ached something fierce, having not fully recovered, which was concerning. Each step sent stabbing pain up his leg, a pain that he could no longer ignore.
His new form's recovery was good, but it appeared some injuries needed to be healed by a healer.
Thankfully, he had just the emblem for the job. It was about time he fixed his body. Reluctantly, he deactivated his nether champion form. It felt like being stabbed by pins and needles, the transformation taking agonizing seconds.
Not his favorite feeling.
Thankfully, it quickly faded, his hands returning to normal. He looked down at his pale, fleshy fingers, his claws replaced by rounded fingernails. He was still covered in gore, and his leg was still injured.
Despite the transformation being so complete that it felt like he had a different body, it was still just one body.
If he had an arm cut off, or something else equally as unfortunate, it would be missing in both forms.
Very good to know. Archivauld suddenly felt incredibly weary, a wave of fatigue hitting him like a sledgehammer to the face. He swayed on the rock he was sitting on, taking a few seconds to steady himself. Well that was unexpected.
Turns out, if he pushed it too hard in his other form, his human body suffered from it. Great, another thing to worry about. He should have expected as much. Such power had to come with some drawbacks.
He shivered, the bitter chill around him making his breath fog. It was only now that he remembered he was in nothing more than pants that hung loosely around his waist.
Just perfect. He was still subject to the cold in his human form. His poor boots were in a sorry state he toe claws having torn through them like they were paper.
Hands shaking from the biting cold, he conjured a holy orb, and tentatively pressed it against his injured ankle.
One holy orb didn't do much to the grotesquely cauterized wound. His earlier concern grew as he pushed a second, then a third golden orb into the wound.
The pain lessened only slightly with each orb, the scar tissue refusing to go away. Even after he drained his reservoir, the wound hadn't improved much.
Perhaps it was because his holy orb was still copper tier? He inwardly cursed himself. He should have dumped his essence into the emblem instead of awakening a second divine node. Well, hindsight was twenty twenty. The more he sat there, the more started to realize just how stupid it had been to ignore the holy orb power.
It was like his other form made him dumber, or perhaps just more arrogant? He had been so confident, so sure of himself and his ability to prevail that he had almost completely rejected turning back to a human until the wound got out of control.
He inwardly chided himself. A Double-edged sword indeed. Archivauld hadn't even noticed how arrogant he was being until he deactivated the curse. He let out a sigh, his breath fogging as he looked down the valley.
Well, crap. He probably should have until it was light out before returning to his human. Another blunder. Everything was dark, and gloomy, his frail human eyes hardly even able to see the iron ram running down the rock face.
A blunder indeed. This was less than optimal. In his human form, he was not strong enough to make it to civilization on his own. Despite his reluctance, he would have to rely on his other form.
The downsides were far outweighed by the numerous benefits. He would just have to try to curb his more animistic tendencies. After all, without his nether champion's sense of smell, he would never be able to find Parcival, and cut the man's head from his shoulders.
Archivauld wasn't an experienced tracker, so he had to rely on what he had.
Grimacing, he gently put weight on his ankle. There was still some sharp pain, but it was less than before. At least the wound on his ribs was mostly gone, just a thin scar. A good start.
Thankfully he wouldn't have to wait long to get going. The sky was lightening, which would make it feasible to travel a bit in his human form for the day, occasionally using holy orbs on the injury when his reservoir would alloy.
Just in case, he would leave his reservoir mostly full, never letting it below the amount required to activate his Nether form.
A pain in the ass for sure, but the quickest way to both keep traveling and to recover. With a plan in mind, he set off, a backpack slung, his axe looped at his waist.
The day was young, and he had a lot of ground to cover. Ascending the final pass was a huge pain, from both effort and because of his leg.
Parcival was no doubt getting further ahead, but it couldn't be avoided. Archivauld wasn't too worried. He would catch up to the asshole eventually. Hopefully, the snake would get eaten by some monster along the way.
Archivauld reached the peak and crossed the summit around later afternoon. Finally, the inner reaches. He stood at the top of the mountain, taking in the vast expanse. So, this was the inner reaches?
He frowned. It was said to be a wasteland, but as far as he could see was a sea of trees below. Well, he was just at the outer edges, said to be fairly tame, all things considered. It would take a few weeks before he reached the lands that gave this place its name.
Archivuald looked down the steep scree slope, his eyes finding a small form farm below as it navigated the unstable rock. Well, now. There he was, near the bottom. Parcival was still alive, for now at least.
That was good. Archivauld wanted to be the one who did him in, burying his axe in the man's ugly mug.
He took a deep breath before starting his descent. No rest for the wicked. He had to catch up to Parcival before the man reached a major city and got lost in the sea of humanity..
There would be no way he could find him then. The asshole also had the map Hesko gave them. Archivuald needed that map if he wanted to find the nearest city. The inner reaches were incredibly vast, humanity spread out, with many regions' death traps.
Judging by the stories he heard from back home, this place made the out band seem like a casual stroll in the park. Monster reigned supreme here, with humanity, and the other races barely holding on.
The decent was arduous and tiring, his pack heavy, and his leg throbbing all the way. He had to make frequent stops, the urge to return to his Nether form nearly overwhelming.
The pain was much sharper in his human form, the fatigue and aching muscles much more prominent. Even so, he didn't change back. His leg was gradually improving with each holy orb, the process slow and uncomfortable.
By the time he reached the base of the mountain, the sun was dipping below the horizon. He could already hear the distant cries of monsters as he reached the tree line.
It was with a bit of nervous excitement that he activated the left most eye of the dark god. A ghastly wail filled the night as he headed inside, gripping his bearded ax in one hand. The monsters in this forest were about to discover that a new predator was in town..