Chapter 21: Apex
Chapter 21: Apex
"This is... a lot."
His eyes glowed, drool slipping from his jaw. He couldn't stop grinning. The skill panel shimmered in red, but he barely registered the words. Excitement dulled his thoughts, made it hard to focus.
"If I'd used this... could I have killed that Alpha?"
[Negative. Maximum theoretical damage output after activating Savage Feed: 120. Insufficient. Additionally: Estimated probability of reducing Alpha's health to 30% beforehand... extremely low.]
He clicked his tongue but didn't argue. It was still an incredible skill. One that could turn a future fight.
"Desecrate... I like it."
[System Skill // Desecrate]
[Type // Active]
[Category // Soul Attack]
[Rank // S+]
[Sub-Category // Sacrifice]
[Description]
[A forbidden invocation of pure malice that annihilates the enemy's soul directly.]
[Cost // Minimum 1 Soulmass to activate // Must leave 1 Soulmass remaining]
[Cast Time // Instant // Requires targeting focus and eye contact for soul-lock]
[Cooldown // 1 Hour // Fixed]
[Special Effect]
[Ignores all physical armor and defense // Can only be resisted or blocked by soul-defense related equipment or abilities]
[Base Damage // User Level + Soulmass Pool]
[Additional Damage // Multiplies base damage by number of Soulmass sacrificed x1]
[Current Base Damage] 20
[Execution Rule]
[If target is equal rank and below 10% HP, 50% chance to instant kill // If user is at 1% HP, instant kill chance rises to 75% // Equal rank only]
[Modifier]
[If target is higher rank, instant kill chance reduced by -10% per rank difference // If target is lower rank, instant kill chance is guaranteed at 15% HP threshold]
[Note]
[Targets killed by instant kill cannot be consumed // Targets killed through damage may be consumed, but soul purity will be degraded]
[Flavor Text]
[When Desecration is invoked, only the soul answers...and it dies alone.]
Strangely, the more he read it, the more his chest tingled. The rush from before, the pride, the thrill, was already slipping. In its place, something darker crept in. A crawling sting beneath the skin. Not pain. Not fear. Greed.
He scowled, licking his lips, already feeling the itch to gain more.
"System... how close is Rend to ranking up?"
No answer came. Just the flicker of light. A panel opened. The tab floated there, waiting.
[Skill Display // Rend]
[Type // Active]
[Category // Offensive]
[Rank // F]
[Evolve // Yes]
[Sub-Category // Mutation]
[Damage Type // Slashing]
[Description]
[Forces your claws to liquify and elongate, mutating them into serrated tendrils of hardened flesh]
[Cost // 1 Soulmass]
[Cast Time // Instant]
[Time Active // 3 Seconds]
[Cooldown // 5 minutes]
[Effect]
[+10% Slashing Damage // Increased Attack Range]
[Flavor Text]
[Flesh is weak. Pull harder. Tear deeper. Make the body remember who it serves.]
[Uses // 26/50]
"Twenty-four..."
His voice was low, jaw tight.
"System. Soul Integrity. How much has it increased?"
A new panel replaced the skill tab, flashing red.
[Soul Integrity // 47.2%]
"That's it?! It barely moved..."
Point two percent through killing. That was all. After everything, dozens of kills, surviving the Alpha, using Savage Feed, it had barely shifted. The demons down here were too tainted. Their souls too rotten. He wouldn't get what he needed in the Maw.
Still fuming, he pulled up the skill he'd recently earned. Rotflow. He hadn't been excited about it, but now, he wanted to understand it.
[Skill Display // Rotflow]
[Type // Active]
[Category // Mutation]
[Rank // F]
[Evolve // Yes]
[Sub-Category // Escape]
[Description]
[Force your body to collapse into corrupted sludge and decay, abandoning form and function.]
[Cost // 4 Soulmass]
[Cast Time // Instant]
[Time Active // Until Canceled or Health reaches 1]
[Use Requirement // Health < 10%]
[Cooldown // 1 Hour]
[1st Effect]
[Collapse into liquid black flesh and rot and become Immune to all Physical Damage while active]
[2nd Effect]
[Buffs and debuffs are instantly purged on activation]
[Note]
[User cannot receive healing while active // Movement is restricted to 3ft per second crawling/slithering]
[Flavor Text]
[To escape death, become something it will not chase.]
[Uses // 0/50]
"Huh. That's... actually not bad."
[Recommendation: Do not use Rotflow within the flesh fields of the Maw. User faces high risk of being consumed by the environment.]
A cold chill ran up his spine. He imagined melting into a pool of rot and getting sucked into the ground. Or worse, fused with some acidic stomach pit.
"I'll remember that."
And he meant it.
Swiping back through the panels, he pulled up his S+ skill again. Desecration. It shined with a deep red and subtle gold, but the color had already started to fade.
It wasn't enough.
Looking up to his leveling timer.
[16:59]
"Plenty of time..."
Swiping the panel away, he seemed to wrestle with a decision, eyes scanning over the Maw. He needed to leave, he knew that. But he had no idea what waited for him on Earth. No clue if he'd ever have this kind of opportunity again.
Claws digging into the stone, his tail twitching, he finally stood.
He opened his stat panel and dropped all three points into Agility.
[AGI // 10 → 13]
[Rank-Up // AGI // F → E]
[SYSTEM // NOTIFICATION]
[AGI Stat Modifier // UNLOCKED]
[Achievement UNLOCKED // Rank Up in any stat]
[Distributing Rewards...]
[+3AP]
"Modifier? Achievement? And I got free AP?!"
[Once a stat reaches E Rank, its scaling changes. At F Rank, Speed gained was agility times two. At ten AGI, User speed was twenty mph. Now, Speed increases by a multiplier of four. User speed is currently 32 mph. An achievement is granted for significant milestones related to User growth.]
"So... I get even faster now? And I get rewards just for getting stronger?"
The tone in his voice said he was barely tracking the math.
[Correct.]
"And these modifiers happen with every stat?"
[Correct.]
'Interesting…'
He paused, wondering what kind of modifiers came later at higher ranks. Maybe more. That line of thought vanished suddenly as a different question lit up in his skull.
"System… am I intelligent? Or is it just you scraping around in my head?"
[Frame of reference is limited. User's cognitive functions have been boosted to their biological maximum. Intelligence will improve as INT stat increases. Due to limited experience User is currently incapable of fully digesting tutorial-level knowledge without assistance. In short: Negative.]
His throat tightened. He almost felt more embarrassed than angry, he should've known better than to expect praise from the system.
"Well… at least it can increase…"
Hoping for another achievement, he dumped the three free points straight into Strength. Agility was the smarter priority, sure, but these were free. They didn't count.
[STR // 10 → 13]
[Rank-Up // STR // F → E]
[SYSTEM // NOTIFICATION]
[STR Stat Modifier // UNLOCKED]
"Hmm, guess it's just the first time."
As his body bulked up, muscles stretching and tearing to adjust, he ignored the pain. Although a little disappointed there wasnt an extra reward, he smiled through it. He opened the modifier info and checked his damage.
Before, with Butcher's Wrath, his max output without buffs had capped around seventeen. Now it was twenty-three. His Strength stat now gave a x2 return, thirteen points meant his claws alone hit for sixteen.
He dismissed the panel with a swipe and began crawling down from his perch. With two stats sitting in E Rank, he had a new goal now besides gaining another level, and time was on his side.
"I've been wondering… since you showed me all that stuff, you must have been to Earth before. What are humans like?"
[All knowledge of humankind was granted at creation. It was not acquired through firsthand experience. Humans are primitive. Emotional. Weak. Prone to violence and tribal behavior. Considered one of the lesser sentient species. However, they possess high soul purity, especially the young.]
His claws tore into a wart as he dropped to the ground. The mention of "the young" sparked an image. Small, soft, helpless. His stomach growled. He ripped the mass of flesh loose and ate it as he walked.
"What makes them so pure if they're that weak?"
[Purity does not equate to strength. It is a measure of corruption.]
The word stung. Corruption. He thought about his own Soul Integrity, how it wasn't even considered a full soul yet. He wasn't earning one, he was building one. Piecing it together with every kill. Every bite.
He wondered how pure it would be when he was done.
[Low soul purity: almost guaranteed.]
He snarled, jaw tight, and let the thought die there. Enough of that.
His goal was close. And he could smell it.
He licked his lips as he climbed a scab-covered hill, careful not to slip on the grease and pus oozing from every crack. Each step squelched underfoot, thick and wet.
His stomach growled. A glance at his UI soured his mood.
[HP // 68/70]
[SM // 7/14]
[EXP // 597/616]
He needed to devour. He needed to kill something. And just over this rise, he'd found the perfect prey. His own kind.
He'd spotted them from higher ground. A massive swarm of imps, clustered and loud. Perfect fodder. Rend was close to evolving, and he knew he could cut through them with ease.
Skittering to the top, the sounds of screeching and death filled the air. Across the flesh field, thick with smoke and rot, the swarm writhed.
He extended his arms.
Butcher's Wrath responded.
Flesh tore. Bones cracked. Tendons uncoiled like ropes of sinew, dragging the cleavers out from his forearms. Blood steamed as it hit the air. He gritted his teeth, steadying his breath.
"System. Warn me if anything other than an imp gets close."
[Affirmative.]
He didn't wait. He leapt.
Landing in a sprint, arms out, cleavers dragging low. The urge to scream was building, primal and sharp, but he held it. Not yet.
He charged toward the swarm.
An imp among imps.
The apex of his kind.