Path of the Slayer B3 22. Thumper & Moods

Thumper really hated his unpredictable emotions.

Some days, he wasn’t sure if there was much else to live for and had to force himself to put on a decent mask. Path of the Perfect Rogue made that far too easy for him. No matter how many times he said his Epiphany, “Watch Me,” most people didn’t know what they were truly watching for.

On other days, his mood was as high as a kite, even if he kept things mellow on the outside, again, thanks to being the Perfect Rogue. Those other days were his favorite. But they weren’t always often enough, which was why vengeance and friendship mattered.

Vengeance ensured Thumper stayed alive. Despite all that he’d suffered. Despite all that haunted him. It was because of vengeance he’d kept going in the Ice Age Carnivore Realm where Arden found him. Vengeance had led to Bortham’s death, the first off the list.

Friendship made life more fun. Even if it meant throwing himself into a fortress filled with Ranked cultists who worshipped the Defiled Covenant. Which, honestly, was just another Tuesday, when following a divinely chosen anti-hero of the Realm Verse System.

Please don’t let me screw up and look uncool in front of Arden, Thumper thought, stalking out of the shadows from behind a smashed barracks building. With one chop of his Super Darkness Nodachi, he split from shoulder to hip a crazy woman with tentacles wriggling out of her body.

[You’ve ended a Rank 4 defiled human!]

“Stop running! Stop hiding! The truth of what we are is through defilement! This is the secret of the System!” screamed a half-minotaur man from around the corner.

Running in at eleven feet tall, he was bloated up with something horrid squirming around inside of his impossibly big stomach. He couldn’t even hope to punch at Thumper – the defiled cultist dashed forth belly first with Aether-enhanced magic and intrinsic Vitality.

Yeah, no, I’ve seen too many videos of this type of game, Thumper realized. Instead of using Shadow Step to evade, the Perfect Rogue spotted new targets off to the side. He turned away from the half-minotaur bloater and sprinted.

Great Skill activated: Velocity Raptor Pounce!

He moved like a seven-foot streak of silent and deadly darkness. Three defiled Rankers traversing across some fallen rubble had no idea he was coming, their backs turned to him. Swiping his badass blade, he carved through all three of them with ease.

Martial Legacy activated: Blade Barrage Dark Wolf Style!

[You’ve ended a Rank 4 defiled elf!]

[You’ve ended a Rank 4 defiled dwarf!]

[You’ve ended a Rank 4 defiled half-orc!]

Stopping on a coin, he turned and whipped around his long blade, sending forth a wave of darkness that flew back at the half-minotaur bloater. The monstrous Ranker bellowed as his belly ripped open and sprouted massive teeth the size of humans.

The chompers bit down on the dark wave. Twisted Aether and Vitality hardened the teeth to overcome the partitioned power of the Super Darkness Nodachi, breaking the dark wave into faint moats and coming out victorious for that instance.

The half-minotaur bloater smiled until Thumper disappeared and reappeared from above with a diving stab, running right through the defiled Ranker’s skull.

[You’ve ended a Rank 4 defiled half-minotaur!]

Thumper’s Super Perception magic caught half a dozen cultists setting up an ambush in a leaning tower above him. Their every step was loud, crude, and eager to jump down upon him and turn him into a horrid monstrosity.

If it weren’t for his powers over darkness and shadows, his Path Energy would’ve struggled against the defilement. And if that wasn’t enough, he also had some curative elixirs in his spatial storage.

Six defiled Rankers smashed out of a window and jumped down onto the spot where they’d last seen the Perfect Rogue. There was nothing but blood, gore, and defiled residue smeared across the rubble and ruins.

They crashed down with nothing to show for their efforts.

That was fine and dandy with Thumper as he strode smoothly out of the shadows from behind them and blitzed at their backs. A second later, he was sliding to a stop in front of them while their separated body parts fell in bloody and defiled splatters.

After flicking their blood away, Thumper lowered his blade and checked his System Logs.

[You’ve ended a Rank 4 defiled half-goblin!]

[You’ve ended a Rank 4 defiled half-naga!]

[You’ve ended a Rank 4 defiled human!]

[You’ve ended a Rank 4 defiled half-elf!]

[You’ve ended a Rank 4 defiled dwarf!]

[You’ve ended a Rank 4 defiled human!]

The dopamine hit he got from seeing the notifications was fun. They kept his mood soaring. Then someone big and authoritative rained on his parade with a prehistoric growl and fortress-rumbling step.

“You keep relying too much on your powers like you’re playing a video game, Pathwalker Thumper,” grouched the Veteran Instructor. “Everything must come first from you. From your combative soul. From the gifts you had inside of you before you were a Pathwalker.”

Thumper withheld a sigh that wanted to come. Instead, he responded, “Yes, Veteran Instructor.”

“Don’t just say yes.” The massive and magical Tyrannosaurus Rex kicked over a fortified building as he stomped closer to Thumper.

V caught three defiled Rankers understep and crushed them. Bolts and streams of defiled magic landed on his flank, barely bothering him, until he got annoyed enough to turn and hurl an explosive meteorite out of his throat. He blasted the ground floor of an entire armory and annihilated over two dozen defiled Rankers in one attack. 

Yet, the insane cultists kept running out of their hidey-holes like roaches. Another six of them dashed toward Thumper’s back with knives, swords, clubs, or bare hands covered in the corruptive ooze given to them by their worshipped gods.

A roaring heart-engine and a quiet howl heralded the most unlikeliest pair. Wolfie’s tongue-lolling smile couldn’t get any bigger as he rode Sabretooth into the six cultists.

The Wolf Commander Fangs held by Wolfie’s shade tendrils swiped through necks and limbs. The flailing mace at the end of Sabretooth’s metal tail bashed in kneecaps, knocking cultists down, making them easy pickings for the autocycle’s radiator mouth.

In a few seconds, they eradicated the defiled Rankers, and Sabretooth ate from the bodies, completely unaffected by defilement. She was cursed after all. Wolfie and the Veteran Instructor were also unlikely to be defiled.

Summons had special protections under the Realm Verse System. That made V’s case interesting. Most summonings weren’t as old as the Veteran Rex. Hence, his advice worthwhile, even if grating.

“I can’t delve deeper. I got a Brand blocking y’know what,” Thumper explained.

There were two Bloodlines inside of him.

Two monstrous powers that wanted to break free.

They were getting stronger and stronger the closer he got to Level 101.He could feel them sniffing, crawling, squirming, howling, moaning, thrashing, and more.

They haunted him at night with promises of breaking him and turning him into a murderous monster, a Pathwalker who was made a sock-puppet by his Bloodlines instead of being the one in control.

How could he delve deeper into himself?

There was nothing but death and darkness inside.

And he wasn’t even trying to be edgy about it!

“You got a lot going on, kid,” V said with a surprisingly more gentle voice. “But the answer isn’t to hide from the pain. It’s facing it. Embrace it. Go all the way in and become what you’re meant to become.”

Thumper wanted to shout that he couldn’t.

Crack! Thump! Boom!

Arden reappeared like the genius child taught by every media character who used magnetic and lightning powers and some. Even without the Railcannon Warrior Armor, Arden’s use of dual Path elementals was so awe-inspiring, Thumper had to focus on suppressing the shivers he felt.

This would’ve been the perfect time for Merlin’s commentary as Arden zigged, zagged, and blasted through dozens and dozens of Rankers at speeds that were nearly too fast for Thumper.