Before we start, there will be 4 chapters today due to my work trip for the next 3 days.
Once I'm back, the chapter will go live on Saturday as usual, and then starting Monday, I will be going to a 3xWeek posting schedule on RR Mon\Wed\Fri.
I'd like to finish my oldest story in the next month. Once that is done, I will raise Patreon advanced chapters to 20 and 25 a bit later for both of the remaining stories. There will be no new stories until at least one of these is finished. I've learned my lesson! Haha.
***
Maximus woke late in the morning, his entire body still aching with dull, persistent pain. “Morning, everyone. How are we today?”
“I’m well, boss, though the lizard is a bit moody. I think he got really scared that you were going to die,” Vesper whispered, flicking his head toward Silex.
“I heard that, you bloody pup! You got scared as well, and no, I did not get scared,” he mumbled, clearly unaware that he had just admitted it.
Maximus smiled gently, his heart beating just a little faster at their bickering. These beasts are closer to me than my family ever was. What is life, huh? He let out a quiet sigh, bought some new black cargo pants, put them on along with his shirt and armor, and slowly stood up.
“I’m going for a walk. Let’s see if the monkeys dropped anything valuable,” he said as he picked up Sprout. “Come, you’ve been at it the whole night. Rest, buddy,” he added warmly and plopped him into his cowl.
Sprout gave a small, content smile and closed his eyes.
Maximus first carved cores out of fifty or so monkeys, eventually even finding a single Skill Stone among them. Then he made his way toward the gorilla’s massive corpse and carved out a fist-sized core as well, and as he did, the corpse faded away, leaving behind another Skill Stone.
“Well, this is lucky. Usually, Skill Stones are extremely rare, and now we've got two!” he said with a satisfied grin.
He scanned both.
[Skill Stone: Shoot Web (E)]
Contains the skill Shoot Web (E) – Allows one to shoot thick, viscous webbing that traps targets until broken. Costs 80 Spirit per shot.
Can be learned by the Druid class and other Classes that walk the Path of the Beast.
[Skill Stone: Silver Armament (C)]
Contains the skill Silver Armament (C) – Channel metal mana into your arms to increase your striking power by 35% while fighting unarmed. Each strike has an 8% chance of breaking the target's defense, dealing an additional 20% damage. Lasts for 20 Minutes.
Costs 750 Mana and has a cooldown of 12 hours.
Can be used by any class with unarmed combat skills.
Another limitation of the mana-less class, huh… Now the first one is for me, which will be the first skill I’ve actually found meant for my class. Walking over the bridge of life and death must have made Lady Luck pity me, I guess. He smiled faintly and activated the skill stone.
Skill Unlocked: [Shoot Web (E) Lv. 1]
Alert: The unlocked skill requires a specialized body part to be used!
Partial Shapeshift Form Unlocked [Weaver Monkey’s Head]
When using the skill, the partial shapeshift will activate automatically.
“Haha, well, that is new. So, I can unlock new forms this way as well. Not bad, not bad at all!” He smiled; he truly felt like things were finally starting to turn for the better.
He then walked back down to their camp and sat down. “You found something good?” Silex asked, glancing up from the water.
“Look at this.” Maximus smiled mischievously and shifted his head into the monkey’s. His head morphed into a black fur-covered, fanged visage, jagged teeth protruding from both sides of his mouth, which split open into four parts as he opened it wide.
“What do you say?” he asked, his voice slightly distorted through the transformed maw.
“You look disgusting. What use would you even have from looking like that?” Silex questioned, clearly horrified.
Maximus only smiled and shot webbing from his mouth, which split open into four parts as a grey-like liquid burst forward and rapidly expanded into a large web that slammed into a nearby tree, covering it completely and hardening almost instantly like concrete.
Maximus canceled the transformation and pointed. “That’s why!”
“Boss, that will come in handy!” Vesper nodded, clearly impressed.
“Hah! Disgusting ability,” Silex scoffed before dipping back into the lake.
Maximus shook his head and opened his notifications.
First, he noticed Spectral Wolves had reached level ten, which allowed him to summon one more wolf. Finally, living up to its name. He chuckled inwardly before checking the others.
Skill Nature’s Wrath (E) is ready to evolve.
Please choose the evolution path for the skill.
Focused Nature’s Wrath (D), Nature’s Blight (D)
Focused Nature’s Wrath (D) – Channel nature’s wrath into an unstoppable beam of burning spiritual energy. Costs 100 Spirit to cast and 5 Spirit per second to channel, dealing 0.3% increased damage each second you channel. You cannot move while channeling.
Nature’s Blight (D) – Channel nature’s wrath into an orb of burning spiritual energy. The orb, once cast, detonates into a wide explosion enveloping a three-meter radius and setting enemies ablaze, emerald flames slowly consuming their energy reserves. Costs 200 Spirit.
Hmmm, I do already have something similar that I made, but that part where it eats their energy reserves is quite useful. The first one isn’t bad either, but another skill where I have to stand still… Hmmm. It could work together with Dread Hollow, though. No, I’ll take the bomb; draining resources is better than rooting myself in place. I can always find a way to edit Emerald Laser into something similar to that channel. He decided on and selected Nature’s Blight.
Skill Nature’s Wrath (E) has evolved into the skill Nature’s Blight (D)
Good, now to check the last one. He nodded with approval.
Skill Basic Swordsmanship (F) is ready to evolve.
Alert: The skill will evolve automatically into the form best suited for the user.
Skill Basic Swordsmanship (F) has evolved into the skill Warden’s Swordsmanship (D)
Warden’s Swordsmanship (D) Level 1 – Allows one to master the way of the nature’s blade. Channel Spirit energy into your weapon to increase its sharpness by 15% and its destructive power by 20%.
As you deepen your understanding of the blade and the laws of nature, your sword becomes an instrument of natural order, guiding your strikes to uphold the balance and purity of life.
A blade path of nature, hmmm. Sounds similar to High Elven Swordsmanship, just a lot more contained and focused. I quite like it! Who knew that I’d be interested in swordsmanship again after all those years... He smiled softly as the faint memory of his father flashed before his eyes, and he stood up.
“We are moving. I don’t need another ambush in this damn region,” he said calmly and waited for Silex, who took his sweet time dragging himself onto the shore.
Like that, they proceeded eastward through the monkeys’ lands, Sprout scanning the area every so often to make sure they remained safe.
***
They kept moving fast and stealthily, Maximus in his Cat Form and Sprout in his beastly form, both taking care of security.
After five days, they exited the monkeys’ region and entered another area similar to the last, but with thick layers of webbing wrapping the canopy, making the entire forest take on an eerie, almost nightmarish feeling.
“More monkeys?” Silex asked, clearly upset. He had spent a lot of energy fighting the apes, only for them to taste horrible, making it all feel pointless, at least from his perspective.
“No, I don’t think so. They didn’t build these kinds of shelters, and their webbing turns more rock-like when it hardens. These could be real spiders this time,” Maximus thought, his eyes scanning the layered strands above.
He morphed back into his human form and pulled out his falchion. Ahead of them, the forest was choked with twisted plants tangled in sheets of webbing. He summoned Embi and had him enchant the group with Fire Enhancement.
As they moved carefully, Maximus slashed through the dense growth, clearing a path while making sure not to alert any monsters lurking nearby.
An hour later, Sprout squealed as he finally found the ruler of the territory. Maximus linked their senses and observed a large bat with multiple spider-like legs protruding from its frame, all connected by a stretched layer of skin that formed some kind of grotesque set of wings. It had four sets of eyes and large upper fangs protruding from its maw.
“Whatever that is, it’s disgusting,” Maximus muttered under his breath.
“What is it now?” Silex asked, his tone laced with concern.
“It’s some sort of bat and spider mix. I’m not sure what it is with arachnoid breeds and this Trial,” Maximus said, frowning slightly at the system’s apparent obsession with spiders.
“They better be tasty!” Silex growled, though his voice held less confidence than before.
“How many?” Vesper whispered, keeping low.
“Only one, from what we’ve seen. Oddly, there aren’t more; bat species are usually found in large swarms,” Maximus explained as they continued forward cautiously, every movement measured and quiet.
***
Half an hour later, a loud, shrill scream echoed overhead as a large monstrosity descended like a falling meteor.
Its clawed legs and winged arms grasped for Vesper, who dodged explosively to the left while spitting a thick beam that pierced one of its wings, tearing off several of its limbs in the process.
Silex followed with an Aqua Jet, slicing through its right side and cleanly severing wings and arms alike.
Maximus wasted no time either; he used Entangle followed by tossing a pair of Storm Javelins, which struck the beast in the chest and detonated, opening large, gaping holes from which blood poured like a waterfall.
The beast, on its last legs, screamed and released a sonic echo that sent its own blood rippling like crushing waves, throwing Maximus and Silex into nearby trees while Vesper dodged cleanly and lunged at the bat, his fangs sinking deep into its throat as he tore violently.
The wet sound of gurgling blood followed shortly after as the beast finally died.
Screech. The monster cried one last cry as Vesper dove in headfirst, ripping out the blood-red core and swallowing it whole.
You have defeated: [Arachno-Vampyr Lv. 27]Battle Tokens earned: 200
His body shimmered faintly crimson as he ran back toward the duo. “Boss, lizard, are you two alright?” he asked.
“I’m fine, a bit beaten but nothing serious; luckily I keep Barkskin ready for moments like that,” Maximus said as he dusted himself off.
“Aye, I’m good as well. So? Is it edible?” Silex asked, his tone hopeful.
“It’s not bad,” Vesper said flatly.
Silex rushed forward and bit into the corpse. “Not bad at all,” he muttered between bites.
“So, gained anything?” Maximus asked as he watched Vesper swallow the core.
“Nothing yet, though I have a feeling I could if I ate more,” he said thoughtfully.
“Well then, we might as well hunt a few more of these to help you out,” Maximus said as he patted Vesper’s large head with a faint smile.
***
For some reason, the bat creatures did not work in groups like the monkeys, which made hunting them far easier. Their control over blood rivaled Vesper’s, and their webbing proved easier to destroy than the monkeys’, but once enveloped with, it would suck out the prey's blood like a large leech, feeding it back to the bat.
And finally, after a few days of hunting, Vesper managed to awaken a new ability.
Tamed beast Vesper unlocked a skill: Bloody Echo
Alert: The skills Rippling Howl and Bloody Echo will merge.
Skill Unlocked: Howling Echo
A howl enhanced with blood mana. The howl releases thick ripples of blood mana, crashing into enemies and allies alike. Foes receive a 30% slow and a lowered defense debuff, while allies have their attack power increased by 15% for 3 minutes. The skill can also be used purely to scatter enemies if needed, disregarding the other effects.
“Alright, with that out of the way, let us depart. It’s been around two weeks already, and we should be deep within the Wildlands by now. What do you think, Vesper?” Maximus asked.
“I’d say we’ve passed more than half already. We should be quite a distance from the ants as well,” he replied quietly.
“Alright. Silex, stop eating and let us move,” Maximus shouted at Silex, who was stuffing his face with bat meat. He transformed into Cat Form and whipped Silex with his feline tail.
“Heeey, what are you doing, smelly Max!” Silex frowned, recoiling slightly at the stench of Maximus’s Cat Form.
“Well, my apologies, oh mighty crocodile. Forgive me for not bathing for days now, like a true savage,” Maximus growled as he nudged Silex forward.
“Fine, fine. Stop it! I’m going!” Silex snapped and began marching ahead.
Vesper watched the two and smiled faintly, yet his gaze remained cold. He couldn’t help but worry.