What King did to Flank town was the equivalent of a meth addict smoking his body weight a hundred thousand times over. Although the results were obviously different at the time, I didn't know why he did it. No other Vitality user was quite so ravenous as King. But, while they had their addictions to deal with, they never tried to devour an entire town. No, they fed with sustainability in mind.
King was smart an engineer before a user, and he had the Intelligence parameter. I couldn't imagine how his mind worked or where his inspiration came from. Combine that with the memories of his other, and he became a dangerous figure. He hit the ground running after the teleportation, and only King knew his goal.
I was reactive and far too caught up with my own skills and parameters to see into King's plan in the early days. Vitality couldn't make a user immortal no matter how much of it is gained. It was by its very nature a set number that, no matter how large, would eventually hit 0. For those who survived, stealth and sustainability were prized.
King had blatantly fixed my arm and flaunted his abilities. He attacked the city in the open and made a base for himself in the sewers. At the time, I couldn't guess his plans. Only looking back with experience and hindsight can I find the clues. Even then, they were well hidden. Knowing King before and after gave the events that followed a new perspective. He understood Vitality couldn't make him immortal.
…
I didn't have time to fight these things. But even with my increased speed, three berserkers were more than I could handle.
A titanic fist slammed into my gut, launching me into a sticky acid-soaked wall. My vision tinted yellow as the acid burned my Force Aura protected skin. Blood leaked from my newest stomach wound. The fast one closed in with a heel kick driving me further into the acid showering wall. Tentacles burst from all sides while I punched and cursed everything I touched.
Wrinkled flesh with stacked layers of fats bulging tight infection red skin buried me with tons of mass. Even as I clawed and fought, burned and screamed, I was one man against a behemoth. To turn the tide, I needed more power.
It wasn't like I was without resources. Four silver skill dice waited in my inventory from my last event. That same event had cooled down, and teleportation might save me. But there was another way. Resting in my inventory was a bronze skill upgrade die.
Once selected, the ten-sided die appeared in my hand. I dropped it even as the creatures and flesh around me dragged me off my feet. Blows rained down, and my blood fell on the quivering carpet of flesh that covered the sewer system.
Still, I saw the flesh move through tubes in the walls towards King, undisturbed by my progress. Perhaps I should have cut off the supply instead of just following it.
Ding!
Skill Points: 8
I placed every skill point into Force and felt new knowledge flood my mind nearly to the point of madness.
Ding!
Force lvl12
Type STR/MAG
Rank: B
Description – Magic becomes the acceleration, and strength becomes mass to create a skill that blends the physical with the mystical to create a powerful combination.
ATL – Wield the abilities given by the Force skill to attack or defend.
Abilities
Force Aura – Mana is spent passively to protect the body from damage. When active, the mana drain increases and exponentially increases defense.
Force Body – Strength is passively increased by the user's mana. When active, the mana drain increases and exponentially increases damage.
Mortal Telekinesis – Strength is fed by magic for a burst of concussive energy. Whether it is throwing a rock further than ever or increasing the reach of a melee attack, its all the same. Strength is the mass, while magic is the acceleration.
Force Asura – Phantom attacks strike at 50% of the users striking power through mystical hands of force energy. Manipulate and control phantom arms from your shoulders as if you had four extra arms.
Phantom Reach – Phantom arms stretch up to 3m from physical arm length. They ignore 20% of armor.
Force Spirit – The Phantom limbs gain the aspect of spirit and can inflict spiritual damage equal to 50% of their striking power.
Gathered Might – The user can merge phantom limbs with their material arms for increased striking power and spiritual damage. +200% of user's Striking Power becomes Spiritual Damage.
Force Form – Force energy has begun to permeate and restructure the user's body. +2% STR/MAG per ability in Force.
Force Focus – For 120s, once active, the user's Striking power increases by 50% stackable up to 5 times. To activate, the user must stand completely still for 5s in battle.
Ding!
Force has reached lvl5
STR/MAG +3
Ding!
Force has reached lvl6
STR/MAG +4
Ding!
Force has reached lvl8
STR/MAG +5
Ding!
Force has reached lvl10
STR/MAG +6
Ding!
Force has reached lvl12
STR/MAG +7
STR 37 (43.8) (51.684) (103.368) (113.368)
MAG 53 (62.54)
For the first time in my life, my vision tinted fully violet. Flames erupted all around me as my magic left my control. Dragon fire roared to life, burning the flesh away. My muscles bulged until it felt like they'd tear through my skin. A scream escaped my lips as new power filled me in a never-ending flood. Until suddenly, that flood was cut off.
More, I had to have more. Even as my vision cleared and I began to feel my increased strength, I wanted to feel that increase again. It was better than sex, more transitory than any meditation, and….
A blow smashed into my face with the Force of a freight train. Only I didn't budge an inch.
I turned to the most armored berserker. For a moment, I stood frozen in introspection.
The feeling of euphoria from my skill increase left me rapidly, no matter how hard I tried to cling to the feeling. But then, reality came crashing down with my responsibilities, my wants, and my goals. None of them had anything to do with the nonsense I felt before.
While I wanted to put a pin in the feeling I'd felt from the skill upgrade die. I couldn't completely block it out. I knew then that I couldn't use a skill upgrade die ever again. For 10 points in an even, the system gave me my first hit of meth. After that, I was certain the next hit wouldn't be so easy to get. Even the stat dice weren't like that to me. Raw stats didn't have the euphoric feel of the knowledge dump that skill dice held.
The fire raged around me for once, burning through the acids and flesh and beating back the mass around me. Cancerous fat deposits sizzled and as mystical flames rampaged, fed by my increasing mana supply. The area around me blackened and died while the life spread through the structure's mass abandoned parts.
Maintaining this mass wasn't King's goal, even if it would slow me down. The unearned Force inside of me threatened to break free and burn everything. A noise I'd ignored since gaining the Force skill suddenly roared to life. Force wanted to be wielded to its absolute limits and beyond. The energy of the skill within me had already changed my body in a myriad of ways. It wanted to be wielded, and I had three targets.
A spectral arm shot out, striking further than ever before. I felt something radiating from my ghostly fist as it hit. The imprint of a meaty fist appeared on the heavily armored berserker's face before it fell back a few steps. The creature gripped its head and screamed.
Ding!
New Skill
Spiritual Manipulation lvl1
Rank: C
Type: Qi
Description – A battle between spirits is fought between wills on multiple theological planes. The user has stepped into a world larger than they can understand, with scales of infinity greater than the last. The manipulation of the spirit is the lock and key to accessing these mystical places. One of which is the realm of the system itself. If the user masters this power, they will become precious to the system.
ATL – Manipulate spiritual energy and battle being on spiritual levels.
Abilities
1. Containment – The user can keep their spiritual energy from damaging other entities. It is considered rude to inflict spiritual damage onto another without just cause.
I saw the weakness in the clones then. They had no sense of self when King wasn't wielding them. No matter how powerful they were, only animals with no will of their own. Unless King took control and distracted himself from finishing his plan, I could clean up.
Force Focus, Force Focus, Force Focus, it remained stunned for 15 seconds while I buffed myself. My ability bordered on a mantra ability, and I was surprised I didn't gain any levels in that skill. But that wasn't important. I felt like I'd caught a Dugtio for the fight against Lt. Surge in pokémon yellow. Or, to be more precise, I used thunder wave against misty.
My next strike shattered the creature's armored chest. Fireball condensed from the palm of my spectral arm, bearing more power than it ever had before. As a result, my mana pool was larger, but the mana also inside of me felt heavier.
I altered the magnetic field of my fireball until the false star took on a new shape. A simple explosion wasn't enough for these things.
Ding!
Mantra lvl10
Type: QI
Rank: F
Description – Prayers to yourself or real individuals to empower a goal or belief. Some say this is the cornerstone of a god's power. However, they are missing a few steps.
ATL – Whisper prayers of deep belief to empower your resolve.
Abilities
1. Immature Will – +10% chance to fulfill a task without wavering in resolve.
2. Conceptual Fusion – The user can add concepts together for a new result.
Ding!
Mantra has reached lvl10
QI +1
QI 69
Ding!
New Fire Manipulation ability gained.
Heavy Fire – Not only can fire mimic the sun, but the gravitational field used to hold the concept together has also evolved to replicate the effects of mass itself.
A fireball shaped like a rifle round, complete with a white tip, pierced the berserker's chest, expanded, and exploded out the other side. Just as it fell, the other two reached me. Blow from my spectral arms threw them into a fit like their well-armored brother.
Instead of wasting my mana, I clapped the lightly armored one. I felt the bones shatter in my hands and the brains squished as telekinetic waves blasted the grey matter apart. Then, for the last one, my arms gripped the poor creature's limbs before pulling. I watched as tendons tore, blood squirted onto the blackened dead flesh below, and the monster fell on the ground and flopped like a fish. The limbs hung in the air, floating held by my invisible arms. I dropped them and moved forward.
After a few dead ends, I found the flow of life again and followed it. I'd just used my last trump card to take care of those three creatures. Anything else might be a problem. Burning the city down would have been so much easier.
A spear of crimson blood appeared in front of me. I threw myself to the side but still felt it tag my shoulder. Sparks flew off my arm as the magic barrier of Force Aura battled with the power contained within the spear. I felt it when the spear cracked, and the world flashed red.
Sprint activated, and the world seemed to slow down. There was no time to dodge, but my spectral arms moved at the speed of my thoughts.
When I was a kid, we used to have tornado drills every spring and fall. They told us to get in the hallway and place our hands over our heads. Four 3+ meter hyper-flexible arms could do better than that. So I wrapped myself up in my spectral arms as the spear exploded.
The explosion took me from my feet and tossed me like a ragdoll. I felt like an action figure a kid picks up and throws down.
"So, we finally meet." My eyes opened, and I took note of a lack of extremity loss. Even my spectral arms felt ok. They weren't genuinely material things anyway.
I peaked through spectral fingers the size of polish sausages to see a blonde, almost white hair nearly touching the floor. Wisps of the giantess's long hair rested at her ankles between two massive feet. My eyes spanned up long pale legs to a black stringed thong with a metal bat's skull covering this woman's privates. Still, I saw the slightest rosy edge of her lips peeking on either side. At this point, my gaze rested at the woman's crotch seven feet off the ground.
The voice didn't come from King. So this must be either an ally of his or a new creation with autonomy.
All around us, the pulsing flesh of King's supply line raged at my presence. Tentacles lashed, and acid sprayed a high pressure through hideous sphincters along the walls. But, on the other hand, the woman stood only a few meters away, unmolested. Her blood spear hadn't done a thing to me. If it was her best, then I had nothing to worry about.
"Oh, poor you, is it too much of a strain on your pitiful human body to look up. Did my little spear break you? By King's rants, I thought you'd be tougher than that." The woman said.
My gaze traveled up past the woman's midriff and to a set of voluptuous breasts unbound by the constraints of a bra. Her soft pink nipples were lewdly inverted.
Something hit me then. I felt a tightening in my crotch and an overwhelming desire to submit. Submitting would apparently make something amazing happened. Dropping my defenses suddenly felt like the right thing to do.
I shook my head. "What powerful charisma do you have?"
I laughed and stood to my full height. My head was just about mouth level with her crotch. Above her titties was the face of an angel covered in fluffy white hair, which only made her violet eyes sparkle even brighter.
"Is this why the Blue Bloods sided with King? Did you all have a giant fetish or something? Or was being the same size as the rabble too annoying for you to stomach." A smile stretched across my face when her eyes narrowed cutely.
I saw a few of the wall tentacles near her. "We all have our fetishes; don't be ashamed you never know what you like until you try it. Did King dominate all of you? What did he use, whips or chains? I'm sure the thought that he could kill you at any moment brightened up the bedroom?" I snapped my fingers at a sudden realization. "That's what the tentacles are for. No wonder they aren't bothering you; he isn't the type to reward his bitches until the job is done." I said.
Her mouth opened, revealing the cutest set of fangs I've ever seen. Suddenly her face turned scarlet, and her whole body shook. Shiny balls of crystalized blood appeared all around her, and I felt waves of telekinetic power push against me. Finally, my own Mortal Telekinesis kicked in, and I took a step forward.
The woman's eyes widened, and the trembling stopped. A slight smirk appeared on her lips. "You almost made me go berserk. King warned us that you were dangerous. I am Sterre Groot, lady of the Blue Blood Clan and a mistress of blood magic. Announce yourself so that we may…." I cut her off with a body shot.
Blood gushed from her chest as my spectral hand ripped her open just under her sternum, reached into her chest, and cursed her heart.
"I knew you were a distraction. You might have even whored yourself out to me if I'd been tempted. That initial blood spear really took me by surprise and ruined any chances of that working." I said.
She gasped and coughed up a mouthful of blood. Pained tears fell down her cheeks as I let go of her heart. I could hear her heartbeat and feel my curse flooding her veins. A part of me felt satisfied at a successful assassination. I doubted she even detected my spectral arm until it was buried in her chest. Three meters of extension was kind of broken.
"King and I grow stronger with adversity. Fighting him and his minions has really increased my strength by leaps and bounds. I've adapted to kill him and those like him." Tentacles shot out from the walls, but they weren't aimed at me.
Her beautiful amethyst eyes widened in horror when she realized what would happen next. She raised a hand from her chest to shield herself from the tentacles. "No, King, don't do this to me. You said you loved me!"
"That isn't King just a hungry wall of flesh, and like any hungry predator, when it smells weakened prey, it pounces without mercy. So goodbye, Sterre Groot. I'll be sure to tell King that he killed you for the lols, of course. Maybe I'll say it when he gets good and deep in a monologue." She screamed and hit the walls with a few cursed blows. They turned black, quickly dying without a new infusion of life. Sterre had passed out either from my curse or from her over-excitement for tentacle play. With a wave of my hand, my curse on her heart ended.
I reached down and grabbed one of her giant titties, and pulled open her nipple. Unfortunately, the pink nipple inside decided to jut out at the sudden stimulation. After wiggling it once, I sighed and turned back to the flow of Vitality.
As I traveled deeper into King's sanctum, I started seeing red crystal formation on the walls. However, none of them had any QI within. So why was there a vast source of QI up ahead? Did King have an artifact, or was I missing something?
After a solid minute of running, I came upon a vast hole. It was easily two football fields across and lined utterly with flesh. Cancerous tumors lined the walls of the hole, spilling a near-endless waterfall of blood below. It was here that I felt it, the qi that Fang Mei was talking about. Down in the pit, I'd find King.
I stared into the abyss while my mind ran through a few questions. Why does King need so much Vitality if he has cancer farms literally pouring it out on top of him? There were hundreds upon hundreds of growths surrounding the hole.
Grey blobs of fleshy matter towered up, collecting waste that flowed from the pipes above from gruesome toothless maws. Wrinkles covered the immortal growths in the millions wiggling and pulsing like giant piles of worms. Bodies occasionally fell on top of them, only for the growths to let the flesh fall within them. My eyes saw through the thin skin to the slow breakdown of mass within. The sights I saw could never be unseen as cancer consumed even putrid flesh and continuously bled.
As I moved closer to the blood farms, I began to make out eyes and a nose from one. When the eyes locked onto me in the dark tunnel lit only by crimson veins held within thin vascular walls of a fleshy super organism, tears welled within them. Clumps of hair clung to the flesh around the eyes, and soon I began to spot a brain in the mass's thin flesh. These were people made to live through cancer imposed on them by King. I let my senses investigate the mass for a heartbeat.
Every day my senses sharpened, and when I focused, my mind could make out the interior of objects by the sounds they made. My nose could pick up on hormones and other scents. When I focused on something, it seemed like all the secrets of the universe opened to me.
Woman, virgin, and pregnant were some of the facts my senses detected as I began to truly investigate the flesh machine King created. Pain filled them in their every waking moment. The sexual organs of dozens of women were implanted in them and grown combined with only one type of seed. That was true for all of them. They were constantly impregnated, and their children have forcefully aborted their wombs emptied on a factory scale.
For once, pity forced my hand. I didn't know if any of the women turned flesh factories were sane anymore. Who could be after what they experienced? "King, I don't understand," I said the words and unleashed a volley of fireballs. The organic machines died in a few quick explosions of light.
Even after I'd killed all the organic machines, the flesh taken from above continued to drip down the hole. The QI only grew stronger down below. I closed my eyes sucked in a breath, leaped down, and used my spectral arms to slow my descent.
"Nothing is real; this is all just a game." A voice replied. I didn't know if King had replied to me or if my mind had taken me back to a memory.
I crashed through black waters and burst into the open air to see the edge of a bank in front of me. As I struggled up on a sandbar, I turned to see miles of black water behind me. Finally, I sensed the presence of a powerful QI north of me. This was it; soon, I'd face King again face to face.