Braxton noticed another nine of the quills as he went out hunting the next morning. They were not in uniform positions, he just found as he wandered.
The Moonlight Halo skill was immensely helpful. He kept him away from many hidden plant like creatures as he travel. It also picked up on creatures in the trees he wouldn't have been able to spot with his naked eyes.
Braxton didn't want to attack the same creatures often. As long as he could get ten vials of blood from each kill, one of that type was enough. It also made each kill a data gathering opportunity. It might not seem like anything important but knowing how to kill different creatures could be vital to reaching the next level.
Braxton's new sword was quickly becoming a go to weapon for him. He used it to kill a couple snakes. They weren't large ones and were easily dispatched.
After fighting off the Parasitic Creeper none of his other targets were anywhere near as tough. The plant like creatures that reminded Braxton of Venus fly traps still unnerved him. He returned home to check data for the ancient rocket launcher he recovered. The data was added to Alpha's database to assist with his usage. He wanted to test the weapon on those monsters. After he had the information he returned once more.
There was a large group of six of the creatures close together. They were in he way of his further travel into the depths of this underground world. To progress he needed to clear them out of the way. He wandered out and went straight to them. It was a ten minute walk. The creatures didn't move from their locations normally. The spot they had claimed was a travel path to deeper caverns. Braxton had seen many of them kill other creatures simply as hey walked by. Then move a couple feet to collect the kill.
Braxton lined up on the nearest one. The plant section on the surface was about two feet tall and wide. He used his data and his UI to setup two hundred and fifty yards away. The distant was marked as a specific line on his new launcher. Every edge would be necessary to hit the small target close enough to have any hope of killing it. He had no idea what to expect if he did hit it either.
Braxton steadied himself and aimed. He squeezed the trigger. The large thump of the round surprised him but didn't effect his aim. He hit at the base of the plant. The explosion blew the plant apart. The creature squealed. Then it rose from under the ground completely. As it did the other five nearby did also.
It was an odd looking creature to say the least. The bottom half was was six legs on a wide body. The top looked like a weird human looking root. On the ones that still had their plants, it looked the root human was wearing a hat. Knowing where to hit them was impossible. Braxton had three grenades left in the launcher. He popped off all three rounds quickly at the three closest targets. With six large targets he didn't expect to get lot of kills. He was hoping the attacks scared off a few of them.
His hopes didn't pan out. The creatures were aggressive. His aim wasn't perfect either. The first shot hit the chest already wounded one. Alpha played the message "Blast Burrow Reaper killed."
His second round hit between the second and third creature. It blew two legs of the second creature to pieces and one of the third one's. He third round hit solid on the third target and the message played again. The body shots were killing from the grenades. He switched out his weapon to the rocket launcher
Braxton took aim with the rocket launcher. He picked the middle of the group of the three closest together. These creatures didn't have armor that seemed effective. Typically, they used the ground for protecting themselves. Above ground they were weak. Under it they seemed almost invincible. They were a pack and were closing with him rapidly. The one by itself had slowed after being wounded. Braxton fired the rocket. A trail of white smoke sped to its target and the explosive rocked the cave a moment later.
Alpha played the kill message two more times. The third creature had been blasted away too. He couldn't tell which one might still be alive. They were all laying still on the ground. The only one still coming at him in this moment was a wounded one. It was missing two legs on one side and seemed dazed. He decided, with the numbers evened out he could try to locate their weak spot.
He had left his lesser weapons behind in the apartment. The railgun he wanted an upgrade for as he did for the auto laser rifle and the Regal sniper rifle. He left them to be delivered to the research team. Having those might reduce the time required for new weapons to be created. They would be handed over with the one hundred and twenty five vials of blood for the scientists.
The 20mm sniper rifle was overkill. He wasn't in range for the Desert Eagles. The mini gun he had yet to test fire outside of the training module. It was a small caliber round compared to everything else he currently had on him. He summoned the mini gun and locked it on his target. It appeared around his right arm. The barrels were close together. It looked like a belt of ammo was coming out of his arm to feed the weapon. The trigger mechanism was in his hand and he squeezed his fist. There was a "Bzzzzz" sound and fifty angry bees flew towards his target. He barrels continued to spin freely after he released the triggering mechanism. The kill message played once more inside his head.
Firing these heavy weapons in rapid succession had been exhilarating. This was like shooting fish in a barrel. He had amassed five quick kills. The sixth was a question mark. It still had yet to move. Night vision would be a useful tool right now. He didn't have any weapons with it on his person still with it. He cursed himself for the oversight. Here was nothing he could do about it right now.
Braxton approached the blood splattered battle scene to collect the bodies. Watching closely for movement that would tell him which one was still alive. He quickly collected the three he was sure were dead. There was a fourth that was clearly dead but it was tangled up in the other two. He studied the three corpses closely. Their bellies were large surfaces. They looked sticky and the one he was sure was dead had dirty stuck to it's. As did one of the others. The third creature's membrane like belly was free of debris. But some bits of flesh were stuck to it.
Braxton pulled one of his .50 cal pistols and took aim on this body. He harkened back to the beginning of his first encounter with them. The poison sack on its head. He took aim on that part of the creature. Then stopped. If that would've killed it, the first creature wouldn't have surfaced. He scanned the other wounded body looking for sins of blood loss on it. The search was brief. A part of the rocket casing was embedded in its chest and blood had leaked out along it. The creature's insides seemed to place vital organs in the chest cavity.
Braxton repositioned his aim and fired four rounds into the four sectors of its chest. The creature jumped to life and just as quickly he kill message played. Then the beast went still.
Braxton collected the remaining three bodies and returned to base camp. After he dissected them the legs were taken by Ickthous. He also took the poison sacks off the three hat hadn't been destroyed outright. They had a lot of small legs on the back of the membrane section of their bodies. The membranes themselves quickly rotted after death. They had decent amounts of blood in their upper bodies. Much of it had been lost. The two that took direct hits from the grenade and the one that ate a rocket yielded none. Their meat was wasted too.
He salvaged thirty five vials of blood off these six bodies and got another four off the snakes. He drank the Stone Ghost blood as he was cooking this batch. It was the first of it he had tried. The message didn't play when he drank it. That was an unexpected result and he wasn't getting any notifications about it at all. He knew it was different. The blood had been black and tasted like smoke. His skin started to tingle a little bit. He couldn't tell if anything was happening with his armor on.
"I'm going to head back for a few days. I've got a few things to check on." Braxton said casually an hour later. He had finished his work for the day.
"Okay. I should be fine for a week. By then I'll have myself ready to hunt I think." Ickthous replied.
Braxton went through the gate quickly. He was curious to see what effect was happening to his skin. It had yet to stop tingling. He went into his apartment and into the restroom. As he stripped off his armor he couldn't see his skin. He was invisible. When he looked into the mirror he could see clouds of nanites. They were so small individual ones were impossible to notice. When they grouped up he could see them. As for the rest of his body there was no trace.
"Alpha can you detect what's going on with me?" Braxton inquired.
"All indications appear normal. Please state the nature of the request." Alpha responded.
"My body has vanished. I mean I still feel like I'm here. I can't see my body and don't have a reflection." Braxton said quickly. He was not sure how to deal with this development. It was beginning to look like something Alpha couldn't help him with.
"All functions read normal." Alpha responded blankly.
Braxton decided to take a show. The water beaded off his skin normally and he was able to see himself in a manner of speaking. When he lathered up with soap it briefly allowed him to feel somewhat normal.
After he finished with his shower, he sat in the bathroom thinking. There was a small bench beside the shower. It was nothing special, they mostly used it as a place to put their clean clothes for after they washed up. Braxton wanted to think things through alone.
Being invisible could have serious advantages. He remembered thinking there might be magic in this world. Alpha was more of a physical thing. Magic was mystical, that might be something Alpha had yet to be able to sense. The horse like creature was not something he had seen before it was captured. He had lucked into finding its body really. He had drank plenty of vials of blood that seemed like they gave him nothing. The magic train of thought made him wonder if he had acquired other skills already that Alpha simple could not detect.
He decided to have a little fun with his invisibility. He walked out and found Vixen. She was laying on the couch studying for her heavy armament license. Braxton waited for her to get up and go into the kitchen. Then snuck up behind her and hugged her tightly. Before he could do much of anything else, she flipped him onto his back on the counter. She had drawn her sword and was ready to chop him into pieces.
"Woah, woah, woah, take it easy!" Braxton shouted.
"What the hell happened to you." Vixen said in shock. She put her sword away and started feeling his body.
"Everything feels right." She said as her hand reached his groin.
"I am not sure yet. I drank some blood and this was the effect. Alpha didn't seem to notice it as all. I'm not sure if this is a permanent effect, skill or some sort of magical ability. I'll see what happens with it over the next couple of days." Braxton replied calmly.
"Well I've never had sex with an invisible man. It wasn't something I thought I'd have to put on my bucket list but there it is now. We can sort that out now." Vixen responded.
After they finished comforting each other, Vixen said "Your baby-mama is moving in. I've decided you need to be there for your kids. She is also a doctor that can help us. When I go back she can watch the kids. We've talked it all over already."
"Oh, so you wanted to butter me up before breaking this news?" Braxton asked devilishly.
"Don't complain or I'll just be rough in the future." Vixen returned.
"It's fine. Taking care of my kids won't be any issue." Braxton stated plainly.