After the first fight, I was committed to learning more about our enemy, but not at the expense of my safety. I cut loose, letting all of my skills shine for the first time, and it was the greatest rush of my life. Nether Fire wreathed around my body, granting me an 80% boost to Nether Fire Magic and a 50% boost to my Strength and Endurance.
Reaper's Call poured out, spreading equidistant until it occupied the area of my perception. The world drowned in a purplish haze as the creatures screamed out in pain and panic. I turned into a blur as I charged the herd of Frost guard seals and unleashed a fully charged Burst out of my hands. It melted the snow and slammed into them like an avalanche. I maintained the spray for five whole seconds, flash-burning the horde.
When I cut the fire, I was down 80DE, and all eight monsters were still alive and rapidly evolving despite the extreme heat.
I kicked things into high gear by adding Gust on top of my Nether fire cloak, transforming it into a wild inferno with purple sparks. For a moment, I was transfixed by the fire before I dumped a full Blast of Gust into the sea of flames before me, elevating it into a tornado of purple, red, and black flames.
The air around me turned bone dry as several feet of snow instantly evaporated. It was like I was in the African desert. Above me, the pack of wild griffon monsters had flown closer during the course of our fight. Now, they couldn't get away fast enough. They screeched and flapped their wings as they tried to distance themselves from the fire tornado, but I wouldn't let them.
I summoned Osiris, gaining another 75% boost in speed.
An explosion of Gust from my legs sent me flying into the air, and judicious use of Ophion let me leapfrog from one Griffin to another. With quick strokes from Severance, I ripped them apart. I kicked the regenerating beasts into the rising Fire tornado below with a kick.
Each execution made me faster and stronger. By the end, the fire tornado had collapsed, and I used swordplay to finish the final three griffons that survived the onslaught.
At this point, I was over 150% faster than my base speed, thanks to my many bonuses. I turned to an old-reliable to deal the finishing blows.
Trillion Stabs.
With a flurry of my hand, I pierced their brains and hearts, sparing their bodies. They held secrets that could be game-changing for the future generation of Uber soldiers I would create. They also had the potential to become organic Vibranium farms.
I landed with a broad smile and rapidly moved, gathering the bodies of the Griffins into my inventory.
I cracked my neck and switched out Osiris for Eryx as the last of the horde finally made itself known. It was a large, burly thing with thick tree-trunk-sized arms packed with more muscles than should be anatomically possible. Its gut still stuck out like an overweight man, but there was a strange look in its eyes. An intelligence that defied logic.
"Are you going to stare at me all day or are you going to make a move."
It opened its mouth, letting out a chilling, unearthly crow that was supposed to intimidate me but did not shake me in the slightest.
My aura still clung onto it like an existential cloak, fundamentally weakening it, and I was sure if I went all out, I could end the fight before it even began, but I came here to learn, not destroy, so I held back my hand and lowered my aura and Cloak.
It blinked, confused, before letting out a determined roar and charged me. The snow and ground underneath it exploded, and it was on me in the blink of an eye. Its blow sailed past my face as I dug into its side with two fire-wreathed punches. I sent it flying back with a vicious hook to the liver.
It landed on its feet with a pained roar and charged again. I sped up, moving faster than a second before because of my mounting bonuses from Feral Flow. It had reached 30% during the fight, and I felt every last percent. The ground cratered around us as we clashed, the damage absorbed by my Vibranium armor. I dug into its side while it was still recovering with a kick, spun rapidly to transition into another, and finished the combo off with a skull-cracking shot to the skull boosted by Invictus's impact rune. The monster went skipping without most of its head, but its skin was already rippling before it came to a stop.
While it evolved, I took the time to scan it.
Adult Frostguard Elephant Seal
Formed from the amalgamation of human DNA and a mature Elephant Seal
Weaknesses: Extreme heat.
Strengths: Superhuman strength, Explosive speed, Damage-resistant torso and skin, Radioactive Fury, Extreme regeneration.
It was more or less the same, with more age and sense. Another roar came from the creature, deeper this time, as it climbed up to its feet. Its face and part of its neck were covered in Vibranium scales, and it'd grown a solid foot taller.
Invictus threw me at it, but this time, the creature was fast enough to start moving out of the way. My kick still caught it flat in the chest, sending it skidding backward. It snarled, throwing itself forward. I flipped in the air, coming down with an impact-boosted kick to the face, sending it into the dirt. It rose to its feet almost immediately and swung at me.
Parry activated, sending the hit to the side while unleashing a retaliatory kinetic explosion that left the creature wide open. I shot forward with both fists, slamming into its chest, detonating two small-sized Bursts.
It flipped the monster over, sending it spinning. Another Burst flung me forward, zipping past its ragdolling body, and I switched directions with a well-timed Burst with Invictus. Whirring around like a top, I unleashed a devastating kick that slapped it hard into the ground, and I followed with two small bursts, propelling me downward to deliver a brutal stomp.
The beast popped like an overripe cherry, but its chest and head miraculously survived.
I stepped back and watched in amazement as Gamma energy and regeneration pulled it from the brink of death and repaired it in record time. A new spine grew in moments. Blood, organs, muscles, ligaments, tendons, skin, all new, fresh, stronger.
It did not roar or scream or show any ounce of fear. It simply stared straight at me with its beady eyes and charged. Its jump in speed caught me off guard. A month ago, I wasn't sure I'd have been able to dodge its charge. I ducked underneath the mass, activating Demon Evade. I came to a stop with a tumble, switched directions, and hit the beast with a flying kick. The monster ate the attack with crossed hands. My eyes widened a little bit as I watched the energy of the attack travel down its body and dissipate.
Its scales were functioning like the inverse of my armor. They diverted the energy outwards instead of inwards.
It swept my leg aside and reached out to grab my coat. I switched out Eryx for Rebellion and parried back the grab before switching to Aquila and swinging out.
Seven projected shurikens splashed harmlessly against its hardened skin. It powered through and threw a punch at me. I vanished my trench coat and tanked the blow to the stomach.
I felt a sudden weakness as my feral flow bonus vanished, and the blow whipped me backward. Its raw strength far outstripped mine. If not for my armor, he would've caved in my ribs. My armor hummed as I landed, and I swung outward with Aquila, unleashing a veritable storm of seven shuriken.
Let's see just how much damage its scales could handle before giving out.
Each latched onto the beast and began to cut into its scales. It let out a warbling noise but didn't slow down. In fact, it sped up. I shot forward with a stomp of using Invictus's impact rune and unleashed another spray of projectiles. It dove to the left, dodging half of them, but three latched on, which was enough for me. Aquila morphed to Osiris, and my speed nearly doubled as I went to work.
The blows rained down like a hurricane. I spun, twisted, switched stances, handled the blade with one hand, flipped, and even added tasteful shots from Invictus whenever I needed to parry a retaliatory attack. It was locked in the middle while I unleashed an assault to end all assaults, but it handled it better than I expected. By the fiftieth strike, its scales cracked, and it began to bleed, but it was still healing, not evolving, though.
The third evolution seemed to be its last. Feral flow peaked, and it was like a mental dam had broken. Energy flow became more vivid, and attacks were easier to read. Every minute movement, particle of snow, and attack lay bare before me.
My from became tighter, my blows rained down faster, and I expended less energy with each subsequent attack.
And just when I thought I'd reached my limit, I saw it. The building resonance. The monster had been able to dispel most of the angel energy I'd forced into its body with each slash of Osiris, but enough had made it in over the hundreds of attacks I'd inflicted.
My instincts screamed out, begging me to match the energy signature, and I did. I formed the beginnings of a wind blade, filling up Osiris until I was down about 100 AE. On a hunch, I pulled on the energy swarming inside of the beast, and I swung, and they collided, eviscerating each other.
I immediately leaped back.
Dozens of blade marks formed on the beast, and the speed and frequency climbed for five whole seconds. The wind energy rippling from the attack shook the air until it finally came to a crescendo.
The air froze for a second before it exploded. A storm of Wind and angel energy consumed the beast and everything in a 20-meter radius. Only bits of bone were left over after the explosion cleared.
The display earned me a notification.
(Epic) Smite (Basic)
Build up a destructive resonance of chaotic angelic energy inside an enemy by attacking it continuously. Detonate with an energy trigger. Works for all angel affinities. Minimum of 50 strikes required and a 50AE trigger. Build up more strikes for a more destructive detonation.
I whistled.
It took a few months, but I had mastered my parents' skill list more or less. Demonic roar was still left over, but I supposed this was a good time to learn it.
I was still riding high from my epiphany, so why the fuck not.
Shutting my eyes, I sent my Vibranium half-mask to my storage, and I drew demonic energy to my throat. I activated Burst as I let out a fierce roar. It displaced the snow in front of me, scattered what was left of the monster in different directions, and echoed through the snowy wasteland.
Surprisingly, I did not get a new skill, which was odd but ultimately appropriate. I had a more comprehensive Burst skill. Not every single use of it needed to be documented or quantified.
On the same note, I dispelled my weapon and brought my hands together in a slap, activating Burst at the point of contact; it produced a similar result, prompting me to smile.
I've always wanted to do that.