RD 4 Ch 13

Hopping backwards on one leg, I extended the blood blade to use it as a crutch.

The wound began to seal over, and a small foot regenerated from the stump, stretching down and growing. I was very thankful to have my regeneration ranked up as I watched my body regrow.

Two of the Hivnara were completely blind, buying me some time. Their compound eyes had been ruined by my short blood blades. The only one that still had an eye was the same one gnawing on my severed leg like a trophy. It seemed to realize after a moment that the threat I posed was still very much present.

"Yeah, that's right. You may have gotten my leg, but that was barely a flesh wound," I growled. Quickly painting an inscription on the blood blade in my hand, I realized I needed something sharper, denser than what I had been dealing with thus far.

I was sick and tired of dealing with the Hivnara's high-ranking exoskeleton. I was going to make something that could punch through them. Half the problem with these scouts was simply that their natural defense was far too high.

The inscription finished, and my blood shimmered on the blade as three inscriptions burned to life. One worked particularly on iron or steel weapons; I hoped there was enough of that in the blood blades for the inscription to function. It would give the blade a harder, sharper edge. The next was to increase the weight. For me, the weight didn't matter, but swinging around something that was five pounds versus fifty pounds made a huge difference at the tip. Meanwhile, the third inscription was simply to make the core of the sword less brittle so it wouldn’t shatter.

There was a notification at the edge of my window, but I ignored whatever the message told me. The Hivnara was done waiting for me to act and rushed forward to attack. It went straight for my other leg, which really pissed me off.

My sword moved quickly, slicing through the air and biting deep into the Hivnara's head before its pincers could latch onto me. They brushed my skin, injecting a touch of venom, but closed no further as the Hivnara collapsed at my feet.

I could only stare at it in slight disbelief before looking at the sword and wondering what had changed in my skill menu.

As much as I wanted to look, I did not have the opportunity. The other Hivnaras surged forward towards my sound, snapping its pincers erratically and tossing its head in my direction. It was blind, but that didn't mean it couldn't still hurt me.

I hobbled back on one leg, swinging up the sword and carving off the last quarter of its pincer, causing the monster to shriek and thrash even harder only for me to jump high out of the way.

It spun about, trying to identify my precise location.

I leaned down, turning the tip of the blade on the Hivnara and falling into it with all of my weight. The blade had been sharp enough for the last two moves, so it should hold up as I tried this attack.

The blade punched right through the Hivnara's head, pinning it to the floor. As I hobbled backward, I was knocked over by the third that had blindly charged across the room in my direction.

I dropped my blade to catch the pincers before they bisected me at the waist. Even with regeneration, I knew I wouldn't survive that level of destruction to my body. Using what little leverage I could find, I managed to keep myself alive, at least for the moment. I was in a deadlock, stuck between a Hivnara's pincers, which was not my ideal place to be.

Thankfully, I still had one good foot. I brought my foot up between the monster and I, getting the right leverage and then shoving upwards. I managed to dislodge it off of me, but in doing so, I ripped the spiny venom injectors along my palms and forearms, leaving behind plenty of my blood and flesh. I staggered back on one leg as I activated Blood Hex, increasing the Hivnara's weight as it came rushing again.

The sudden change caused its head to dip down low enough that its pincers caught on the floor, and the whole monster came tumbling ass-over-head.

I made a new blood blade and thrust it between the segments of the chest and head. The blade went in far easier than I expected. I checked the blade only to see that it was inscribed, just like the one I had made a minute ago. Breathing heavily and feeling the loss of blood, I staggered over to a still-standing chair to lean on while I opened up my skill menu.

[Bloodiron Blade SS]

"Well, look at that," I said to myself. "Getting myself in danger really is the best way to level skills."

I took a deep breath as the three Hivnara disappeared, leaving behind small piles of loot. I continued leaning against the chair, this time focusing on my regeneration and trying to push my new leg out as fast as possible.

Meanwhile, my severed one melted away, much like the monsters. It was a grim reminder that now that this system had blessed me with so much strength, I wasn't that much different than the monsters I killed.

I glanced at the new blood blade, trying to understand my new skill and how it would change the weapon. The system had upgraded this skill, as well as ranked it up to SS. Both rarely happened at the same time, but I had seen it a few times.

Some skills couldn't be low ranked. Bloodiron Blade was something I had never seen before. Yet, I made another one, glancing down at it. There was a notable grey metallic sheen mixed in with the otherwise red blade, as well as three inscriptions etched upon the side. Somehow, when I had enchanted it, I had changed not just the blade, but the skill.

But if the system wanted to give me the upgrade, I was more than happy to take it and use it. I was fairly sure Sissy, as I liked to call the system, had some sort of sentience and she liked me.

The others came rushing back, dropping in from the hole like they were ready for a fight. They quickly spotted me, leaning against the chair, studying my blood blade.

"Did you kill all three yourself?" Gloria asked, the mob princess crossing her arms underneath her chest and looking me up and down. "Also, what happened to your pants?"

I smiled at her as Simone pointed at my leg. "If I had to guess, that one's freshly regenerated, isn't it, Bran?"

I shrugged. "A leg for three scouts on my own is not a bad trade. For now, let’s eat and rest. And we should probably keep at least two people on watch at a time."

Circe scowled at me. "You're not even concerned about it being dangerous to rest here?"

I turned to give her a funny look. "I hate to break it to you, but there isn’t a safe location for rest here. This spot is the same level of danger as any other. We just have to be smart about keeping watch. I’ll put some inscriptions up to help, but these hives are just going to keep wandering the place."

Circe looked around for support, only to find none among the rest of the ladies. Nyx was happily picking up loot. Meanwhile, Simone was going back and checking on the pot she had been stirring before the Hivnara had dropped in unannounced. Merlin checked her tea and found it too cold for her taste, before going and putting it by the fire to warm up.

"Who wants the first watch?" I asked

"I'll take it. I wanted to finish that cup," Merlin said. "And it'll keep me awake.”

“Fair enough. I could use some rest." Circe stretched her arms. "Simone, if you'd be a dear and save a little of whatever you made? If Bran eats like a Borrson, I'm afraid I have to make sure that there's at least something left over for me.”

“I don't know how a Borrson eats, but I'm going to hazard a guess to say they eat a lot. In that case, Bran absolutely fits the bill. You should have seen him when he's taken Gloria out on a date. You'd think he was starving and it was his last meal." Simone offered.

I rolled my eyes. "It wasn't that bad," I tried to defend myself.

"It was pretty bad," Nyx winced while all of her hair serpents bobbed their heads eagerly.

I stared at the traitorous serpentine strands of hair.

"Well, we'll make sure to save you something, Circe. I promise.” Simone answered.

“And if nothing else, there's plenty of trail rations that we brought." I offered.

Circe made a face, "You probably think the two are replaceable. Can you believe he thinks he can replace your cooking with trail rations?"

Circe won that one, at least based on the expression that Simone now wore.

"Of course not. Her food is far superior to trail rations. I was just trying to get more for myself. You really can't blame me." I might be oblivious at moments, but I knew when to compliment a lady. Sure enough, my words earned me a giant smile from Simone.

Circe shook her head and walked off, laying out several plush blankets before taking out a pink silk pillow. She fluffed it and laid it at the head of her blankets. I watched her with disbelief.

"Is that what you bring into instances?" I asked.

"Don't tell me," she said, turning back. "You rough it every time you go in?"

"Well, I wouldn't say 'rough it', but it is an instance.” I started before she interrupted me.

“Which is exactly why I bring my own comforts." She gestured at the items before her. "I'm not a masochist. I like my back to be at least passively comfortable when I lay down. Don't get me started on the cramps and kinks that come with old age."

"And how old might that age be?" Simone asked with a smirk.

Circe huffed and settled into her chosen sleeping spot.

I gave Simone a look of warning. I would really rather not have any of them antagonizing each other.

Simone flashed me a quick smile. I wasn't sure if it said, 'sorry', or 'I had to do it', but it was one of the two. Either way, that smile vanished a moment later as she went back to cooking as if it had never existed. And Circe laid down for sleep, the others remaining quiet to let her get some rest.