Around two hundred kids now filled the cavern, placed neatly into rows. Their eyes were wide and their bodies shivering, but they mostly stayed quiet.
Before bringing them, Ace had reactivated the enchantments on the monster's cage. This meant it could not rip and tear into the kid's flesh.
After describing the process to Raven, Ace, Sol, and Kara had left the chamber. If they had stayed, they might have interfered with the process.
Before beginning, Raven pulled up his stats.
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Name: Raven
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Talent Points: 1
DISCIPLINES:
Melee: 0
Ranged: 3
Spell: 0
Physique: 3
Aura: 4
Roguery: 3
Utility: 0
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Perks: [Poisonous Aura], [Bondbreaker]
Spells:
Supernatural Abilities:
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Ardor: Tier 0
Aura Core: Tier 0
Body: Tier 0
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Raven had put four of the TP he received into his Aura Discipline. It cost two to bring him to three, and two more to bring it to four.
After, Raven stood still, taking deep and calming breaths. In one hand, he held a bottle of poison. In the other, he held a potion. Once he felt completely prepared, he drank the potion.
After that, he pulled out a dagger. He dripped poison onto the blade, and walked towards the closest child. Ignoring its' whimpers, Raven slid the blade into its' arm.
This was the first step: As he waited for the potion to take effect, he would inject poison into all the children. It was a poison that was slow acting, but still extremely powerful.
Efficiently and methodically, Raven quickly injected every child with poison. Some begged for mercy, some cried, and some accepted their fate quietly.
Raven just ignored them.
Soon, they had all been infected, and they began to die off. The air was quickly filled with a nefarious, toxic aura. The strength of the Aura was immense, and Raven's Aura could not fight it off. Before it could kill him, however, the potion began to take effect.
It was an extremely expensive healing potion. It would grant superhuman regeneration, and its' effect could last for nearly an hour. However, the more damage you suffered, the quicker its' effect was used up.
Raven concentrated on pulling the Aura into his body. Soon, raging torrents of Aura were flowing through his blood. Even with the potion healing him, Raven could barely keep his body held together. Still, he sucked more and more Aura into his body.
Raven grimaced. 'Alright, I am going to have to start forming the Core soon...'
He focused intently on the powerful Aura, gathering it near his heart. He strained, forcing a seemingly endless flow of toxic Aura to condense down.
Then, he whistled.
Hearing the signal, Ace deactivated the enchantments on the beast's cage.
Soon, dark tendrils emerged from the cage. They flailed wildly about, until one touched a nearby corpse.
After that, the tendrils went into a frenzy.
Fueled by bloodlust, the dark tentacles ripped apart the children's corpses. Blood and guts sprayed out, and chunks of flesh were taken into the cage.
Still, even while consuming their bodies, the beast made no noise except for the movement of its' tentacles.
After a few seconds of letting the creature feast, Raven finally moved.
He stepped into range of the beast's attacks. Then, with his sword, he hacked away at the monster's tentacles.
For a moment, a brief moment, the creature paused.
Then, the monster's bloodlust was redirected towards Raven.
Raven dodged the whipping tentacles, and the beast's rage grew.
For a little bit, Raven was able to dodge the attacks...
... it didn't last long.
As Raven sidestepped a tentacle that slammed into the ground, another one quickly lashed at him.
It tore into his throat, ripping apart his flesh.
Raven's concentration broke, and soon he received a dozen more attacks.
He jumped out of range of the monster, as blood spurted out of a dozen wounds. Torrents of blood poured out of a jagged wound in his throat, and only the miraculous effects of the potion kept him standing.
He closed his eyes and concentrated on his body. He felt as the potion forced his body to heal with supernatural speed. As the jagged cuts sealed up, he focused on the dark Aura that had seeped into his flesh.
It was a deep, disturbing feeling. The Aura was unnatural, and it felt unnerving. Still, Raven forced it to integrate with his body. The dark Aura infused his flesh, and the dozens of wounds turned into points of energy, which spread the Aura throughout his body.
However, as he did this, his focus on his still-forming Aura Core weakened. It destabilized, and Aura began to break away.
Raven ground his teeth, clenching his fists tightly. His focus oscillated between condensing his Aura Core, and integrating the Abyssal Aura into his body. His mind felt like it was melting from the pressure, and he got an intense migraine.
However, this situation slowly grew better. Slowly but surely, Raven became better and better at managing his Aura. Less and less of his mind had to be focused on condensing his Aura Core, and he could put more effort into integrating the Abyssal Aura.
Then, Raven began to feel a tug at the back of his mind. As he became better at controlling his Aura subconsciously, the tug grew stronger.
Then, he received a notification.
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Supernatural Ability Developed!
Ability Discipline: Aura
Ability: Second Nature
Condensing Aura comes more naturally, requiring a bit less focus.
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Immediately, the strain on his mind lessoned by just a little bit. Still, even though it wasn't much, it was just what he needed. Now, he was just barely able to integrate the Abyssal Aura while condensing his Core.
From his heart, where the Core was being formed, toxic Aura spread through his veins. They were becoming conduits for his Aura, and would soon let him freely move Aura throughout his body.
At the same time, dozens of jagged scars across his body turned darker and darker. Black tendrils spread out from the scars, and his flesh became enriched with a dark, unnatural energy.
As his Aura conduits came in contact with the Abyssal Aura, the two energies clashed. Both became unstable, as each fought for dominance.
Raven gritted his teeth and focused, forcing the two energies to coexist.
Pain flared throughout his body, as Raven struggled against the immense power coursing through him. Blood leaked from every orifice of his body, and his insides were being repeatedly damaged.
Eventually, the energies stopped fighting. Slowly, they began to intertwine. They integrated, and began to synergize. With neither energy achieving dominance, they were both able to grow without impeding the other.
As they integrated, the pain Raven felt lessoned. Taking a deep breath, Raven smiled.
Then, he began soaking up every last bit of Aura in the atmosphere into his still condensing Core, and walked back into the range of the Abyssal creature.