They would devour him, if they could.
Body and soul.
Slavering jaws snapping for Alex’s throat and ankles… before shattering under blows every bit as hot and furious as the jackals’ own.
For Alex was finally losing himself to the rhythm and flow of their terrible dance.
Sensing how they moved, fought, and thought as one.
Soul Sight skill check successful! You sense the flow of Dark Qi and intent for action as your opponents do all they can to bring you down!
When they charged forward, Alex had already weaved away.
When they slavered and snapped, they struck only air.
Before being struck in turn, Alex’s feet and Dark Qi-gauntleted fists flashing through the air in perfect accord with the sea of furious frenzied movement all around him, Alex now seeing their mad blood frenzy as steps in a dance he alone knew the outcome of, exulting in a half dozen piteous howls before his own cry cut through the air. But not before howling with the exultant rush of power healing flooding through his soul.
For his dance in that storm of tooth and claw required his blood as well, grudgingly given. But give he must, or be pivoted into a situation where his torn throat would be the final note to the darkest of dirges.
The cry of torn hocks and lacerated arms was a small price to pay for the exhilaration and power of his foes’ endless potency roaring through his veins, vicious slices knitting themselves up the moment he took to the air.
Bullrush! Lightness in effect! You stand upon the tiniest crack of stone’s shadow!
Alex blinked, taking a deep exhausted breath as he hovered fifty feet above the ground, having at long last found a solid lip of stone projecting from the damp stalactite overhead, wedged at its very base, allowing him his first moment of actual peace in what seemed an endless night of struggle.
He felt his blood turn to ice in his veins, looking down at the massive slavering beast of shadow and hate below, eating the very last of its kin.
Before glaring at Alex with eyes filled with darkest hate.
And gleeful cunning.
Having brilliantly maneuvered to deny Alex even the tiniest bit of sustenance or rest.
Not one morsel of flesh or solitary beast core had Alex been able to claim before his foes harried him back and consumed their fallen, until there was but one terrible foe left to face.
The vicious lupine smile widened, the entire massive chamber resonating with the echo of the monster’s voice.
“Every kill made you weaker. Every devoured brother made me stronger. And now, I have ascended!” Booming laughter filled the chamber. “You, little worm, were nothing more than a means of achieving my end. And your death will be the final bit of sustenance I claim before I break free of this eternal prison, chains of guardianship at last broken!”
Monstrous jaws opened wide. “Come, worm. It is time for this dance to come to its end.”
Alex laughed through his terror, knowing both how perilous such a fight would be, and that he really had no choice but to fight it.
Flashing a cold smile, a final card to play.
For after fighting fifty shadow wolves that thought and fought as one, he knew the beast below him as well as it knew itself.
Knew how it would faint, pivot, and strike.
Knew as well it’s overweening pride.
It was no foolish predator. But how quick it was to fly into a frenzied rage.
Finesse check made!
Biochemical skill check made! Unique use of skill in play! You have managed to synthesize and store all Ancient and Modern Poisons! You have increased your body’s natural storage capacity! Power Healing has circumvented all normal internal production limits. Personal nutrient stores fully regenerated!
Congratulations! Biochemical Mastery is now Rank 6!
What he was doing now was madness. Utterly and completely insane. But if there was one single advantage to being forced to fight absolutely naked, save for intermittently flickering gloves of Dark Qi now at last thick and stable upon his hands, it was what he was finally relaxed enough to do.
“I have a better idea for the snapping little hound below me forced to slaughter and devour all his brothers for my pleasure. How about you kiss my ass? And hey, you look a bit thirsty. Maybe I can help with that!”
Find Weakness skill check made!
Alex was only too well able to imagine the affront it would cause any prideful beast, let alone a monster so ruthless as to slaughter all his kin for the sake of power and revenge. Alex already knew how it would react to being urinated on by its prey.
The howl of shock and outrage.
The instant snapping fury as it roared and leaped for its target.
Before the sting of irritation turned to the agonizing pain of eyes smoking with caustic fluids, struck with a stream of pure concentrated poison Alex had been busily storing in the only place he could.
Not his mouth.
Not any clever storage container in his ring.
But the one every human used and emptied every single day.
The outraged roar that nearly knocked Alex free as the massive jackal lunged for his perch turning to a surprised yip as the beast flinched, its eyes now hissing and bubbling just from the few drops that had hit, most of the caustic brew singeing pitch-black fur instead.
Far too little to truly blind such a monstrous beast of Shadow.
But more than enough to make it flinch for the precious second Alex needed.
As the roaring horror leaped straight up for the now furiously snarling human who had just shattered the base of the stalagmite he had perched upon with a single furious blow.
Adderstrike!
Quickness check made! Finesse check made!
Alex desperately shifting himself such that he was actually in position to shove the massive spike of stone down with even greater force.
Right for the beast writhing in the middle of its leap. Temporarily distracted by blinding pain, and in no position to dodge away from death now crashing down upon it from above.
Bullrush + Adderstrike used in combination! Temporary invulnerability achieved! Stone Spear inertia magnified!
You have struck your foe!
Stone Spear has pierced target!
Stone Spear has shattered!
Temporary invulnerability lost. Ribs cracked. Ligaments torn. You have suffered 1 Medium and 2 Serious Wounds!
Your foe is critically injured!
Stifling a cry as ribs broke and toughened skin tore as he crashed to the ground, it was nothing compared to the cacophony of sound and destruction as the stalactite blasted right through his monstrous foe’s abdomen, blood and entrails spattering everywhere as Alex quickly sprang free.
Bullrush!
Already knowing his insanely vicious nemesis would have immediately realized just how badly Alex had played it the moment crashing death hit it, a too sharp nose allowing the monster to instantly sense Alex’s location. And to his horror, Alex still felt his foe’s snapping teeth, even having leaped away in a heartbeat, before he could even fully register the agony of his own cracked ribs.
Already healing as he darted through the air.
You have taken 1 Light Wound!
Experience flood of all previous kills still in effect! Power Healing is still in effect! Your injuries have completely healed!
A panting Alex righted himself from his newest perch, flashing a cold smile for the snarling, howling, dying jackal. He clenched his fists, feeling obsidian blackness coat them like a second skin.
Congratulations! Dark Qi Gauntlets may now be summoned at will within any saturated environment. You have achieved Rank 1 in Dark Qi Projection!
The massive beast spat a gob of blood, glaring at Alex through inflamed, bloodshot eyes. “You think this wound will stop me? You dare to take me on, injured and weakened? Come closer, little worm. Fight me if you dare!”
Vicious teeth snapped at the air.
Alex smirked at tho
se glaring eyes and snapping jaws, keeping himself a good twenty feet away as he eyed the shattered fragments of stone below. “Maybe I’ll pass on that,” he said, eyes alighting upon just what he needed.
The massive beast gave the strangest of sighs, lowering its head, taking sharp, panting breaths. “Of course you will.”
Find Weakness skill check made!
Alex could all but taste the greater beast core forged in the crucible of consumption and battle, how it sparkled most strongly of Spirit Qi, tied as it was to sentience, awareness, the process of communication and, according to the stories Liu Li had once enjoyed reading, it was the province of summoned demons, daedra, and fantastical creatures as well.
In this case, it was allowing his murderous foe the ability to think and communicate, and perhaps plan as well as any human. Or perhaps that was the normal evolution of spirit beasts.
A truly chilling thought.
“I am curious, however, about something you let slip. You are, or were, the guardian of something?”
The massive lupine flashed a brilliant tool. “Ah, indeed I am. And what delicious wondrous secrets it holds. Secrets that would make any cultivator jealous with envy! And every fool that dared slip through from the caverns above, surviving all its trials? Died within these ancient city ruins.”
The creature abruptly spasmed in a fit of violent coughing, spraying flecks of foamy blood. It gave a guttural groan. “Yet somehow, you managed to survive. Survived and thrived like a shadow blossom in rich dark seas of Qi that have poisoned every cultivator before you.”
The massive shadow jackal flashed a lupine smile, seeming to nod almost approvingly at Alex. “Perhaps, perhaps you are worthy of its secrets after all.”
It jerked its fearsome maw towards what now seemed to be a city-sized maze of shattered ruins, the impossibly vast, otherworldly cavern depicting a broken landscape of enormous pillars and roofless walls stretching as far as the eye could see, that Alex, lost in the tactics of survival moments before, had seen as nothing more than barriers and leap points, a structural grid to maneuver around in his game of survival, even now seeing a number of shadow jackal corpses, realizing his foe hadn’t been quite so thorough in cleaning up all traces of his kin as Alex had first thought.
Not that it mattered, the beasts having harried Alex with exquisite grace. Had it not been for Eternal Fox and the mad flood of constant healing and skill training he received as he consumed the power and potency of dozens of kills...
He would have died long ago.
Alex abruptly shook away the twisting knot in his gut, already understanding the trap being laid before him, but unable to resist the grand lure in the heart of ruins he now realized had been a magnificent city. And a mere fifty feet high? What madness had him think the cavern roof so low when first he had been dropped in? Its massive stalactite covered roof and tunnel ledges he had so brilliantly, so perilously danced between now soared impossibly high above his head.
No wonder he had taken such injury when he had finally crashed to the ground, strong as his body now was.
But if that were the case...
The monstrous jackal should have been shredded.
And he should be dead.
He lurched back, suddenly dizzy.
The jackal’s grin widened, shiny black eyes open once more, glaring into his own.
“And now, at last, you begin understand, mortal. Not even the false idols you worship can save you. For creatures of light cannot pierce this darkness with their silvery eyes. And the fools who thought to place Karma’s burden at my feet did so only by the light of the full moon. The lid placed over your grave is one no captive can remove. If you actually wish to escape this place, if you desire knowledge of all its secrets and treasures...”
The creature gave a ragged wheeze, blood-flecked maw whispering words so faintly Alex heard not a one.
Alex furrowed his brow. “I didn’t quite catch that?”
The dying monster frowned. Struggled to speak once more.
Only the faintest whisper slipped free of its lips.
Alex sighed. “Alright, hold on. You need me to get closer, don’t you?”
The creature sighed, giving the weakest of nods.
Alex burst out laughing. “Do you truly think me that stupid?”
The massive jackal snorted, flashing a rueful smile. “It was worth a shot.”
“Indeed it was,” Alex said, flashing a tiny smile of his own, before shifting out of the beast’s view. “And now that my friends have finally arrived, I believe it’s time to say goodbye.”
The jackal’s eyes widened at the sound of scattering gravel, pivoting toward the sound.
Realizing its mistake only too late.
Bullrush! Bullrush! Adderstrike!
Weakness found! You have struck your foe with a temporarily indestructible five-foot sliver of stone! Stone Spear has pierced brain case!
Desperately pivoting its now snarling, snapping skull around just in time for its eye to line up perfectly with the razor sharp and extremely brittle shard of stone Alex held in a gauntlet of Dark Qi, Qi Perception and Soul Sight having allowed him to predict the beast’s desperate panicked reaction and final flinch before it did, temporary invulnerability assuring his brittle spear of stone struck with the unbreakable force of finest steel.
The great beast’s titanic roar shook even the rooftop above, desperate dying spasms sending Alex flying into the air, even as the beast’s own violent lurches assured its irrevocable death, the narrow piercing blow becoming a gaping tear in the creature’s now no doubt wildly hemorrhaging brain.
Greater Spirit Beast has suffered a mortal wound! Experience earned!
Congratulations! Bullrush is now Rank 6!
Alex didn’t hesitate, refusing to let his experience bank, instead channeling that burst of potential here and now into a sudden jolt of understanding, so that when he fell back to earth, it was with a triumphant roar, lashing down at the dying beast heel first, his foot covered in obsidian Qi.
When he struck the spasming jackal he was filled with sudden insight, feeling every single shift and twist of his muscles culminate in a perfect heel stomp, his mind flooded by the glorious sensation of rich Dark Qi obeying his every command for just a heartbeat, synergizing perfectly with Adderstrike as the greater spirit beast’s ribs cracked under the blow.
Before he was flung flee in an uncoordinated tumble, thrown off the giant in its final death throws, twisting his ankle even as he laughed with the madness of his glorious insight, though not so overwhelmed that he lacked the wherewithal to scurry back before flailing limbs could disembowel him in a heartbeat.
You have successfully channeled your experience gain into a single skill! Successful skill check will allow you to cover fists or feet with pristine Dark Qi whenever you are in a saturated environment!
Breakthrough made! Dark Qi Projection is now Rank 2!
And so close to cresting Rank 3. Alex could almost taste it.
Save for Qi Flood, it was his first true Dark Qi skill.
He felt a wave of fierce exultation crest through him.
Before recalling just how much power was truly to be harvested from any Silver-ranked cultivator or greater beast. How quickly the earliest ranks tended to progress. Alex was now certain he could have ranked up Bullrush or Adderstrike with the locked potential of the hideous beast he had finally defeated, the summation of almost the entire legion of nightmarish predators he had fought in a desperate struggle, just a handful of minutes before.
And this new skill had only just hit Rank 2. Not by dint of countless hours of practice, but by Alex literally channeling the raw experience gain of scores of lesser and one extremely deadly greater spirit beast.
That experience which he hadn’t had to channel into his very survival.
And how perilously close he had come to losing it all.
Alex shook his head, wondering just how incredibly hard it would be to level up Dark Qi Projection
in any other way save the crucible of combat.
He flashed a fierce grin of satisfaction with his foe’s dying howl, the last of his limitless potential roaring into Alex like a storm. And his mad grin turned to howls of his own, howls of tear-filled laughter, post-battle shakes finally hitting him in ways he would have never thought possible after achieving such strength. But it seemed he was still human after all, laughing and sobbing and shrieking with how close he had come to death, struggling to survive every second, the awful terror he had felt, desperately channeling his panic into twisted, bloodthirsty exhilaration, clinging to his final life even as he forced himself to revel in the sheer glorious madness of it all, embracing destiny’s crucible forging the blade of his soul, knowing that if he ever failed to revel in the storm of his own making, failed to savor each and every toughening blow upon the bedrock of his spirit, he would be shattered forevermore.
But still, here in the now-quiet dark of the massive gloomy cavern and nowhere else, he shed more than a few tears for the bitter hard life he was being forced to endure.
Enemies at every corner, foes where there should have been nothing worse than friendly strangers, the gods themselves doing all they could to assure his death.
Alex closed his eyes, leaning against the stone, allowing the last of his tears to slip free of his exhausted soul, finding a strange moment of bittersweet serenity.
Before the jolting beep of life support monitors and the staccato rhythm of hurried feet racing across hard linoleum floors disturbed his rest yet again.
“How are you holding up there, love?”
Alex smiled as remembered pain and weakness mixed with the painfully sweet memory of his mother’s husky voice.
“Doing okay, Mom,” he said, voice a breathless whisper. “You wouldn’t believe the adventures I’ve had. I just wish all my dreams wouldn’t turn so damn dark, where every day’s just a struggle to survive.”
His mother’s gentle laughter washed over him.
He felt the soft touch of warm fingertips caressing his sweaty brow. “That’s the way life is, Alex. Every day’s a challenge. We fight for every breath we take, and we rise to the challenge, no matter how badly the odds are stacked against us. And every day, we get just a little bit stronger. Every day, things get a little bit better. Until we find joy where once there was hardship, and find fresh new reasons to embrace this life we were given, one day at a time.”
Silver Fox & The Western Hero: Warrior's Oath: A LitRPG/Wuxia Novel - Book 4 Page 30