Path of the Slayer B1 C7: Relentless Striker

Path Magic activated: Relentless Surge.

Path Energy: 84% to 44%.

The sudden drop in Path Energy didn’t take away from the sudden burst of power that went off inside of me like a bomb. Everything about my body became faster, stronger, tougher, greater.

The tension was so much I didn’t think twice when I swung the autosaw’s whirring edge against the incoming glaive blade and clashed with it directly.

A strident clank followed by screeching metal-on-metal violence filled the alleyway. Sparks flew between me and my ghoulish foe, and then the clash ended with the glaive careening off its angle. Instead of carving into me, the glaive struck the wall behind me, and I surged forward.

The tower shield rushed at me and I met it with my left shoulder. The impact came with energy, releasing a small burst of power between us.

This time, I lost the exchange, the power from Relentless Surge already waning.

I needed more fodder. Relentless Surge required constant slaughter.

As I backed off, I watched the ghoul flick its glaive for an overhead chop down at my head. I lunged to my right, dodging the overhead chop, and thrust my autosaw into the chest of the nearest Rank 1 ghoul.

Hellion’s edgy chain was active on one side mainly, the front, but the entire blade still had a point above the slot where the chain looped out.

With sheer brutality, I punched through, eviscerating the monster, before reaching two more ghouls behind it because of my momentum. I gave Relentless Surge renewed life, but not without paying a cost.

The Rank 2’s glaive came back around, and I had to keep going to avoid the brunt of the edge. Instead, the tip sliced through my back, and my Path Energy sank from 44% to 37%.

Growling, I ripped my autosaw out of the three corpses in front of me. I lunged through the ghoul crowd, slashing them apart, the Rank 2 on my heels to run me down with its glaive.

None of the ghouls could slow us, but I was the one benefiting from the crowd. My Path Energy climbed back up to 45% while Relentless Surge reached its peak. Only then did I turn around at the end of the alley, a trail of dead ghouls behind me.

The Rank 2 monster thrust its glaive at full dashing speed, and I met it with a more sophisticated maneuver. I stepped to my left while reaching over to grab the shaft with my left hand. Predictably, the Rank 2 ghoul tried to yank back its weapon, and I followed the motion while forcing the glaive up and against the lowering edge of the autosaw.

I packed Path Energy into the treasure, dropping from 45% to 40%, but the price was well worth it. The autosaw chewed through the shaft, breaking whatever magic enchantments empowered it until the glaive became two pieces. Then I threw myself at the Rank 2 monster, which raised its shield in my way.

I gave Hellion another 5% of my Path Energy, dropping to 35%. The weapon’s bloody aura crackled with sharpened force, my Path Energy given shape along the hungering edge of the running chain.

As the autosaw roared mightily, the only other sound that could be heard was the shield being sawed in half and getting split out of my way. By that point, the other Rank 1 ghouls that remained tried to jump me from behind.

Without looking at them, I swiped Hellion behind me and cut down four of them at once. The Rank 2 monster took advantage and thrust a clawing hand at my face. It struck, raking across my cheek, piercing through a layer of Path Energy to leave me a ragged wound.

My response: an autosaw thrust to the chest, punching into the ribcage with all of my strength and Relentless Surge.

The Rank 2 stumbled backward, colliding with the wall behind it. Its mouth and milky white eyes stretched with horror before swinging its arms to beat me away.

I ignored the hits from the Rank 2 as well as the Rank 1s, applying more pressure with Hellion inside of its chest. The autosaw laughed boomingly, as Rank 2 Vitality drained into us, making me gasp sharply. My Path Energy went up at a quicker rate, and the more the Rank 2 struggled, the more I drank from its Vitality.

Then we reached a breaking point when all of its struggles weakened.

I slashed downward and to the left, ripping the autosaw out of its ribcage. A slurry of organs fell at our feet, the Rank 2 buckling. I followed up with a horizontal sweep, the autosaw meeting the monster’s spine. It resisted for a second before getting hacked apart.

Bisected, the ghoul dropped in two messy halves that flung from each other. I swiped to my side and killed some more of the pestering Rank 1s before continuing my execution of the Rank 2, which was trying to crawl away at this point.

My foot slammed down on its back. Then the autosaw’s whirring teeth struck the back of its head and finished it.

I looked past the notifications for the slain Rank 1s and found the one I wanted.

[You’ve slain a Rank 2 ghoul!]

System Almighty, that was the most satisfying notification I’d ever seen in my life.

Hellion was laughing like a maniac, spouting nonsense that only I could hear.

I didn’t blame the cursed thing. This was everything.

I finished the remaining Rank 1 ghouls, with Relentless Surge making the task easy.

After fighting ended, my Path Magic dwindled, becoming more passive, leaving me weakened and somewhat at a loss.

Then I was given another wonderful notification.

[You’ve slain all foes in a significant encounter. Reward: 50% Path Energy!]

Before I could even think to question that, new Path Energy rushed into me. I went to 94%. I looked around me at the open street. Nothing but massacred corpses. The alleyway was a bloody mess.

I burst out into mad laughter.

Hellion howled with mad laughter as well.

I was in paradise.

Hellion urged for more slaughter, more madness. To keep going and going and going. I nearly gave in. Nearly.

Reminding myself of the hidden curse, I decoupled the autosaw and put it on the ground for it to shut off. It wasn’t out of spite. I needed Hellion to calm down a little before we continued, or it would turn its hunger on me.

Once it shut off, I coupled it back on my right arm.

“When will the next glorious slaughter commence, my liege?” Hellion asked.

“After I check my newest notifications,” I said. “I think I have some more interesting goodies.”

“Most excellent! Take what you must. Kill the rest. Grow so the next carnage will be even greater than the last!” Hellion bellowed merrily.

I shook my head while looking away from the autosaw.

I was really crazy, wasn’t I?

Choosing a spot under a deteriorated awning, I exited the light acid drizzle and leaned against the wall. I pulled up my deeper notifications. One surprised me.

[Congrats! Path of the Slayer Leveled Up! 1 to 3!]

What did that mean?

Was I now the equivalent of a Rank 3?

That couldn’t be possible. It didn’t feel like I changed in any significant way.

Granted, it did feel like I had more Path Energy than before, but not by an obscene amount.

“So, I can recover Path Energy through Hellion. I can also recover it by slaying all enemies in a big enough fight. And my Path Energy can grow incrementally as I … ‘Level Up?’” I said aloud.

I stroked my chin with my left hand. Being a Pathwalker wasn’t too alien to how being a Ranker worked. However, I noticed that my Path Energy magic remained at Level 1 and was still Exquisite. Nothing changed there.

I would have to monitor that. Path Magic powers outside of Path Energy were expensive! That huge fall from using Relentless Surge would’ve scared me if it wasn’t for the powerful boost.

This was an issue that Rankers wouldn’t have – their powers were tailored to them, making it more efficient to use.

“But my powers are stronger,” I said.

Costlier.

But stronger.

Moving on, there was another major notification waiting for me.

[Congrats! You’ve acquired a Great Skill: Multi-Striker Potency!]

[Multi-Striker Potency: Level 11 (Uncommon): When will they learn that you’re a fodder-chewing machine? When striking three or more enemies at once, your strength and power gets a boost.]

“System, is this your way of making up for all the years I’ve struggled?” I asked. “If so, I’m sure we can be the best of friends. Better than whatever relationship you have with the God Emperor.”

The Raining Ruins Hell Realm was not a place in the God Emperor’s control. And if the Realm itself was its own entity, I imagined it didn’t care for me.

I was certain everything that was happening now was because of my efforts and the System.

After I found there was nothing else of worth in my notifications, I checked behind me to see my adventurer pack was still attached to the back of my shorts, safe and sound.

I did stop to sew the damage on the left side of my shorts, which should’ve been worse. Even the wounds I’ve suffered were mostly sealed up, nothing but fading scars at this point. And those scars looked like they would go away soon.

Once patched up, I checked the area for anything of worth. The gear of the Rank 2 ghoul had some magic on it, but nothing that was worth taking on right now.

I was more interested in relying on Path Energy for now until something irresistible showed up. That and I had nothing that could carry extra loot. My sewn-up adventurer pack didn’t have enough space.

I strode across the Realm of hellish desolation. My Path Energy resisted the acid rain, the sharp uneven ground, and the noxious fumes.

It wasn’t a completely comfortable experience, especially when I moved too hard and stubbed my toe a few times. I missed having boots. Fortunately, Path Energy kept fixing me up without too much cost.

More Rank 1 ghouls appeared.

But none of them appeared in close enough proximity to make it worth testing Multi-Striker Potency.

I bashed their brains out with Hellion’s edge without activating the autosaw fully. The Vitality drain was small, but there were plenty of ghouls shambling about. It didn’t take too long to reach the full 100% as I journeyed closer to the epicenter of the battle.

The closer I drew, the more excited and energetic I felt. Though, that didn’t take away from my curiosity about the alien landscape and how tall some of the more intact structures were.

They were so tall they were scraping at the sky. Why would the people of a lost era build their structures so tall? Weren’t they afraid of catching the attention of dragons in flight?

Did they want to challenge their own god of sorts, if they had a god?

Maybe that was what led to their downfall, going from whatever it was before to being the Raining Ruins Hell Realm. Or maybe this was all here from the beginning, a way for a Hell Realm to stake its claim on twisted life through symbolic structuring.

I had no clue.

But asking these questions was fun for me. Between sightseeing and casual ghoul-killing, I was thoroughly occupied until I found another large pack of monsters.

They were worthy of activating Hellion fully. I performed the yanking ritual on the cord three times, letting it belch and growl and roar loudly like a declaration of war.

I let the monsters know I was coming.

That would’ve been normally fine, if it wasn’t for the circling shadows in the air.

Two fireballs streaked down on course for me.

***

It took a few brushes against the smartly bursting fireballs to remind me I wasn’t invincible. The burns still hurt, and my flesh could only handle so much. I lost 10% of my Path Energy from being on the edge of a few detonations.

I didn’t want to find out what it was like to take one fireball head on.

The circling imps didn’t let up at all. They had a lot of Aether, and they cast down fireballs like it was a basic attack for them.

I ran for cover, diving into one of the tall structures as fireballs blasted the debris-filled streets behind me. The heat of their eruptions singed my backside as I fled.

Rank 1 ghouls half-ran, half-shambled after me. A few Rank 1 ghouls appeared in the dark recesses of the structure.

I struck them over the head with the autosaw, obliterating their skulls instantly. Moving fast, I went up the stairwell one landing at a time, kicking off the walls to keep up the speed.

Something else bounded quickly from the ground floor behind me. With heavy steps, a third Rank 2 monster followed. It was something even tougher and mightier than the Rank 2 ghoul.

I paid little mind to the entity on my tail. I could deal with it later. It was the imps who had to go down first, so I ran and ran. I went up the long stairs, going far higher than I’d ever gone before.

Open gaps in the stairs appeared on my upward route. I lunged over them. Even as steps crumbled from underneath me, I stayed light and quick. Then I crashed through a door that was stuck ajar, breaking it off its hinges.

I kept running across the rooftop, leaping past sagging holes. My tag-along followed me, making it the four of us up here.

There was me.

Hellion.

The Rank 2 tag-along.

And the ghoul I held by the neck during a majority of the run up here.

The Rank 1 ghoul moaned and scratched at me, leaving some negligible damage that Path Energy patched up easily. I kept my grip on its bony neck as I came to a sliding stop at the edge, looked down, and caught my prey lining up just perfectly.

Path Magic activated: Tyrannosaurus Roar!

Path Energy: 90% to 42%!

I unleashed a thunderous roar that resounded far in all directions. Every monster that heard it in the area fell under its effect, especially the weaker ones. The ghoul in my grasp froze up completely.

The Rank 2 monster behind me stumbled and hesitated. And the two imps circling beneath me lost their fervor and slowed their flight, placing themselves in an awkward position lined up underneath me.

Sacrificing 10% of my Path Energy, I went down from 42% to 32% before slinging the ghoul in my hand as hard as I could. The Rank 1 monster slammed bodily into both imps, one-over-the-other.

All three tumbled toward the ground, but not without me sacrificing another 10% of Path Energy, dropping me to 22%, just so I could throw myself down even faster.

The building edge was obliterated behind me as I flew down like a crossbolt.

I met them before they hit the acid pond below, my autosaw swiping straight through as I activated my Great Skill, Multi-Striker Potency. My Path Energy dipped from 22% to 17%, making me both nervous and thrilled as my plan came to fruition.

[You’ve slain a Rank 2 imp!]

[You’ve slain a Rank 2 imp!]

[You’ve slain a Rank 1 ghoul!]

I got some energy back, rising back up to 22%, but I had to rely on my body mostly when I hit the pond like a ball out of a cannon. I went down to 7%, and that put me on edge. A Pathwalker without Path Energy felt horrible.

With no time to rest, I swam out of the acid pond and reached the shore with the most enemies.

My Path Energy dropped to 4%.

The feeling of near emptiness was horrible, like a sudden onset of dehydration, withdrawal, and illness. I was eager to bring myself away from the edge as Hellion growled and shuddered, acid draining out of its compartments, making the autosaw hungrier than ever.

Three ghouls appeared before me.

One normal swipe brought me up to 5%.

There were plenty more ghouls in the area. Hellion and I hungered for their Vitality-rich flesh. I kept the slaughter going, building myself back to 25%, only to get interrupted when the last Rank 2 monster jumped down at me from a floor closer to the ground.

I rolled out of the way as two large hooves crashed down on the uneven and broken street, breaking it even further.

The monster raised its head, where ram horns spiraled on each side of a creature that stood like a man but had the face of a goat. It had a furry chest that was wide and strong, and it had two big, knobby fists. The knuckles were like hammers, ready to pummel and crush with every swing.

With a huff, the Rank 2 monster charged at me and threw a hard punch.

The strike was telegraphed and slower than expected, as if the monster was still struggling from the effects of Tyrannosaurus Roar. Seeing the gift that was presented, I dodged away from the first punch. I circled around as the big demon threw another large and slow whopper of a punch.

I leaned out of the way, allowing the punch to pass me, then I stepped around to put two ghouls between myself and the big furry monster. The Rank 2 prepared another punch, and I interrupted with a kick – to the ghouls.

I sent both into the front of the goat monster, forcing it to hesitate as they collided.

Great Skill activated: Multi-Striker Potency.

The sudden boost in strength and power sent me flying with a single lunge. I slashed the autosaw horizontally and mutilated the ghouls across their torso instantly. Then the autosaw struck the Rank 2 monster in the chest, biting down hard, cutting through fur, flesh, bone, and gristle.

I was pretty sure, in most cases, an artifice like this would’ve gotten gummed up with all the hair and flesh.

But Hellion didn’t seem to care. It buried deep and kept ravaging the demon from the inside.

The muscular monster stumbled back in horror, roaring in bloody pain from getting nearly sawed in half until the running teeth of the autosaw reached its lungs. From there, it could only vomit up blood silently.

The richness of its Vitality fed into Hellion, which fed into me, ticking up my Path Energy quickly. I leaned all the way in, pushing the autosaw deeper, washing myself in fountains of blood, drawing as much pain and Vitality and Path Energy I could out of the exchange.

Everything was working out fine until I took a desperate punch to the gut and was reminded that I wasn’t the biggest and toughest yet. My feet left the ground, ribs pulverized, my autosaw yanked out of the monster meat.

Everything blurred past me before I struck a large metal carriage from a bygone era, the frame crumpling around my body.

All that Path Energy I’d acquired had gone away from absorbing the punch. I still came away with fractured ribs and a few pulped organs for all of my troubles.

The Rank 2 monster wasn’t faring much better.

Its wounds weren’t sealing, its guts hanging out. There was fear in its dark eyes as I pulled myself out of the crumpled frame of the large metal carriage deformed around me. Each of my jerky and stubborn movements sparked dread in the monster, and I soaked it all in.

“I’m going to get you,” I said.

The Rank 2 monster turned to run only to have  half a dozen ghouls standing in its way.

Great Skill activated: Multi-Striker Potency.

I crushed the distance with a lunge and slash. I nearly hacked the Rank 2 in half while slaughtering half a dozen ghouls.

Skidding to a stop, I turned and jumped at the horribly mutilated Rank 2 monster as it crumpled to the ground.

It was still alive.

Good.

We chopped and chewed through the meat until it was properly separated. Its last moments were well spent under my care and Hellion’s.

[You’ve slain a Rank 2 demon!]

With that done, I ran around the area and cleared out the ghouls until I got the notification I was looking for.

[You’ve slain all foes in a significant encounter. Reward: 50% Path Energy!]

The rush of Path Energy reentering my body was a relief, bringing me up to 81%. But that wasn’t the only thing on my mind. There were some new notifications waiting for me to address.

And new concerns.

“Have I gone a little too insane?” I asked.

“Of course not,” Hellion purred.

I decoupled the autosaw until it shut off, letting myself think more clearly.