Path of the Slayer B1 C6: Go Wild

6: Go Wild

To be honest, I only had one hard choice.

Every power was interesting, and I could fantasize about ways to use them – especially Bullish Knock Up, Stampeding Run, and Giant Slam. I could string all three into a devastating combo if I could get them all. Even Hunter’s Mark would be useful against tough foes that I wanted to track and figure out immediately.

However, Qualities and styles won out in the end.

Just like Realm Treasure Chests, I might not get to choose from any of these powers again. Higher Qualities led to most powers having a greater range and effect, even if they might cost me more Path Energy. Based on feeling alone, I had a lot of Path Energy I could spare in this body, or so I hoped.

Additionally, I knew my style. I was the type that wanted to keep going, enduring all challenges. That was my Epiphany, wasn’t it?

I’ll keep going.

In the end, the decisions were no-brainers.

[Congrats! You’ve chosen Tyrannosaurus Roar: Level 31 (Rare).]

[Congrats! You’ve chosen Relentless Surge: Level 31 (Uncommon).]

I checked the corresponding section in my profile, half-believing any of this was real.

[Path Magic: Path Energy (Exquisite), Tyrannosaurus Roar (Rare), Relentless Surge (Uncommon).]

Yeah, there they were. I had three powers in my Path Magic section. Technically, that was smaller than what Rankers would get, since they had Vitality, Aether, Suppression, and one special power at Rank 1.

However, most Rank 1s had nothing but powers with Common Quality. In contrast, I had one Exquisite, one Rare, and one Uncommon.

If Level 1 was like being Rank 1, then I was more powerful than most Rank 1s.

I might be able to fight Rank 2s, as long as I had an advantage.

“Could being a Pathwalker overcome a Rank 3?” I asked.

I was eager to see.

But first, I needed to make some adjustments.

I stripped down and removed whatever remained of the gunk on me. I used my knife, needle, and sewing thread to turn my leggings into form-fitting shorts to cover my essentials. Other than that, most of my legs and the rest of my body were exposed, but that didn’t bother me much.

Path Energy moved vibrantly all over me, from deep within and close to the surface. It hummed actively on the surface of my left hand, and even somewhat on my artificial claw. In fact, making the short bottoms for myself turned out swifter than expected.

Standing still, I focused on the bundle of energy filling my body. I felt it thrum in my veins. I felt it surge through my muscles. It was soaked into my bones, organs, and even my brain. Every breath felt energetic. 

It wasn’t cold. It wasn’t hot. But it was alive and ready to serve, because it knew me and it was me.

The only place where the flow was slowest was in my Rank 1 Artificer Half Arm. I tried not to frown. It wasn’t long ago when I felt happy about this thing.

The Hellion Autosaw waited eagerly at my feet. I thought about the convenient hole in the back that seemed just right for a nub to slide into. Could it still fit me even with my bigger dimensions?

I bet it would expand its own dimensions for me.

Treasure items were magical like that.

“I’m not sticking me in you,” I said, glancing from the autosaw to my little metal arm. “But I can meet you halfway … with some modifications.”

Another soft and distant rumble traveled through my hiding spot. It was far weaker than the last one. I was running out of time.

Getting to work, I popped open my toolkit and pulled out some tools. My movements were sleek and fast. Despite the extra size of my left hand, I was more dexterous than before. Path Energy flowed into my living digits as easily as water down a hill. Before I knew it, my movements became a blur of activity.

I blew out an auto screwdriver because I jammed too much Path Energy into it by accident. That was a little frustrating, but thankfully, I could merely use a manual one.

I removed the flippable blade from the forearm and deconstructed the half arm before reassembling it with an emphasis to match my new bulk. That meant I had to do away with the length. I didn’t even bother refitting the claws at the end, either.

After checking the hole in the back of the autosaw a few times, I finished rebuilding the arm into a cylinder-shaped coupler. A flash of blue magic glowed along the seams, jam-packed with Path Energy being turned into Aether for the artifice. The process was simple, almost instantaneous.

Before I moved on, a notification appeared.

[Congrats! You’ve acquired a Great Skill: Gear Modder Speed!]

[Gear Modder Speed: Level 11 (Uncommon): Sick! You’re not just handy, you’re quick with it, too. Every time you modify something from its original design, your dexterity gets a speed boost.]

“What?!” I shouted, stumbling back. I jammed my heel into a sharp piece of metal, but my enhanced body resisted somewhat. Path Energy flooded into the small injury, numbing and healing right away.

I tried to get my thumping heart to calm down. Path Energy made it feel like there was a great drum beating in my chest, filling me with more magic-soaked adrenaline than necessary. It took a while to get down from feeling super amped, but once I did, I could think more logically.

I checked the corresponding section in my profile.

[Great Skills: Gear Modder Speed (Uncommon).]

There it was.

A new … power?

No, it differed from the powers I knew, at least the ones Rankers would have, or what existed in my Path Magic.

I figured a Great Skill was a minor ability that gave improvements for specific actions. Though, I was only going off of what I saw in Gear Modder Speed.

That raised an interesting question. If I could get one Great Skill just from using my artificer talents, maybe I could collect more from accomplishing other activities I’d trained on for years.

All of my hard work and sacrifice would pay off even more that way.

“How many Great Skills are there? How many can I collect?”

I was beyond excited. The smile on my face hurt from being spread so wide. My heartbeat was thundering in my chest, and my blood was rushing hotly. Path Energy pulsated and thrummed with matching eagerness.

Without even performing any safety checks, I grabbed the autosaw and popped it on the coupler mod. After a small twist, the two items locked in perfectly. The flow of Path Energy through the coupler and into Hellion felt just right.

When I looked away, I noticed something trying to swim against the current of my Path Energy. I parted the flow and allowed the outside influence to reach my mind.

“My liege, the times have surely flown by! I remembered when you were small and cute and innocent. Now you’re a juggernaut that’ll surely make the world tremble with your every haunting step!” Hellion exclaimed, smooth and deep. “What will you do next with your newfound growth and power?”

I laughed. “Go wild!”

***

I nearly threw myself into an acid pool because of how fast and hard I could move.

It was extraordinary.

Every step.

Every bound.

Even the motion of my arms pumping at my sides.

It all felt incredible. Powerful. The new muscles and size weren’t for show. They were necessary. Like containers for the hyperactive Path Energy inside of me.

Consequently, I flew down the tunnel like a beast, far faster than the usual Rank 1 for sure. Every bounding step crossed great heaps of distance like it was nothing, the chaotic ruins of the tunnel zooming past me.

I was so absorbed with my movement that I mistakenly ran into a small stream of acid falling from above.

The Path Energy crackling on the surface of my body surged. The acid droplets found no purchase, sliding right off of me. But that came at a price.

I noticed a dip in my Path Energy, far more than before.

Somehow, I could calculate it accurately. I went down from 100% to 99%. That didn’t seem like much, yet it still drew some concern from me. There was no dip in energy when I powered my tools earlier. I had a consistent flow going into the coupler, too, and my energy stayed even on that front.

That required some monitoring. I wasn’t sure how Path Energy recharged.

I would have to find out.

The tunnel’s exit zoomed past me. I slowed down as I entered the open. Acid droplets struck the Path Energy barrier coating my body, which included my shorts. I noticed my energy remained at 99%. The light acid drizzle wasn’t enough to leave a dent.

Things were quiet out here, but the devastation from the fighting was everywhere. There were mounds of corpses strewn between large piles of rubble.

Yellow fog of noxious fumes, swirling ash clouds, and drizzling acid covered the area. The skies remained as red as blood with glaring orange rays beaming through like harsh torch lights.

I felt alone out here. The only company was the distant rumble that told me the Fallen Slayer was still active.

Movement to my right caught my attention.

It was a ghoul.

The creature shambled at its slow pace. No, it seemed far slower than before.

Curious, I drew closer to the ghoul, my left hand readjusting the adventurer pack I had hanging from the back of my shorts. Once I was certain it was secured, I raised my left hand and waved it to get the creature’s attention.

The Rank 1 monster turned sharply toward me before picking up its shambling pace.

I waited.

It took its sweet time to reach me before making a lunging attempt.

My eyes widened in subtle surprise … at how it was moving slowly.

I easily stepped aside, pivoted, and countered with a straight left punch. Path Energy crackled sharply on my knuckles, and a strident snap resounded on impact with the ghoul’s jaw.

There was a moment where I felt resistance – the monster’s Vitality getting in the way. I still broke the jaw and sent the monster sprawling off its feet and landing on its side.

My Path Energy remained at 99%.

Wow.

I looked dumbly at my fist and then down at the monster slowly getting back to its feet. Its milky white eyes glared at me before the monster made for another lunging attempt.

The inactive edge of my autosaw crashed into its face and stopped it in its tracks. I pulled back and bashed in its face again, making it stumble backward. I followed up with a step forward and more blatant smacks to the head again and again.

Hellion shook with subtle glee on the end of the coupler. Even with it inactive, I felt the treasure’s magic engaged, soaking up Vitality with every hit.

“Yes, yes!” Hellion moaned. “More, more!”

“You damn freak,” I said, trying not to smile. “Fine then. Go on and enjoy.”

The ghoul crumpled, its Vitality stripped, its skull breaking. It became another corpse on the floor, with some of its brain meat coating the inactive autosaw.

[You’ve slain a Rank 1 ghoul!]

Interesting.

The notification no longer said ‘overcome.’ The word ‘slain’ had replaced it.

My Path Energy remained at 99%. Although, I was certain it was closer to reaching 100% than before. Stealing Vitality from my enemies would feed my Path Energy, wouldn’t it?

Nice.

I needed more enemies.

Picking up the pace again, my bounding feet took me toward the rumbling impacts that sounded far duller and more distant than before. Corpses and demolished ruins surrounded me in all directions. Drifting clouds of noxious gas, ash, and acid passed me by.

I knew there were more experiments I could conduct. I could try building up more Great Skills based on all my years of training.

But I didn’t know how long the Realm Quest would last.

The Fallen Slayer could perish at any moment.

Still, that didn’t mean I would turn away from experimenting further when the opportunity arrived. I picked off some lone ghouls as soon as they ended up in front of me.

I focused on striking them with the unmoving edge of Hellion with as much force that seemed reasonable. Path Energy responded by juicing me with extra fervor, and as it did so, I paid close attention to my Path Energy reserves.

I felt small dips and rises as I went. But the rises were steadier than the dips, especially when I whacked ghouls with Hellion. Eventually, I returned to full 100% status with my Path Energy. I probably would’ve gotten there faster if the autosaw was active.

[You’ve slain (10) Rank 1 ghouls!]

I didn’t see a reason to activate Hellion until one finally arrived.

Turning a street corner, I found a legion of the hellish undead marching in lockstep together. I counted at least sixty of them shambling in the direction I wanted to go.

More notable was the ghoul at the front, who was head-and-shoulders bigger than the other ghouls. The creature was also armed with a tower shield and a glaive while wearing some basic leather armor on its chest, head, and legs.

“Shall we?” Hellion asked.

I smiled crookedly. “Yes, we shall.”

I grabbed the handle to the pull cord and yanked with fervor. 

The first belching guttural roar came out louder than expected. It sounded hungry and wild, like a beast was rousing from its deep slumber and letting everyone know. Then the noise died down along with the echoes.

I was already yanking a second time as the ghoulish company stopped in their tracks and turned toward me. All of their empty, milky eyes landed on me, and for a second I thought myself dumb for standing there out in the open, all exposed.

Then the autosaw roared for the second time, louder and greater than the last.

The ghoul leader made a cry that was barely audible compared to the noise the autosaw made. The smaller ghouls heard it anyway and broke out into a jogging run that was far faster than any movement they’d shown.

I remained standing in front of the tide as my grip tightened on the handle before I pulled a third time with all of my might. Hellion made a sound that was even louder than I’d ever heard from him, drowning the sound of the distant fighting and filling the ruined streets with bestial and guttural noise.

Then the ghoul legion was upon me.

They flailed their arms at me. The bony ends of their fingers, bloodied to a fine point, lashed out like claws. Their teeth gnashed as some of them lunged for a bite. Others even tried to tackle me and bring me down.

It was clear that the leadership from the big ghoul triggered more aggression and smarter gang-style attacks from the Rank 1 ghouls.

I broke free from them anyway.

My left fist snapped out without restraint and cracked a ghoul on the side of the head, throwing them away. My legs shoved at the ground hard, leaving a few cracks in the hard surface, ripping my body free from ghouls trying to hold me and take me down. All the flailing arms striking me clashed against Path Energy that responded in kind, hardening over the surface of my flesh.

I went down from 100% to 98%.

But I came out okay except for a few bruises and nicks that got through my Path Energy. I was also rewarded with ghouls tripping over each other, creating a pile up, making the few that broke through less of a threat than the entire swarm.

An idea came to mind.

I braced myself, crouching down a little. I used Path Energy to push Hellion, making the autosaw whirr faster without having to touch the actual trigger. I also willed for my Path Energy to bundle up with my tensing muscles.

As I became like a coiled spring, my Path Energy coiled with me, charging me up, reinforcing my potential, making the inevitable burst to come more thrilling as a ghoul finally reached me.

I turned all of that coiled potential into forward motion, Hellion poised in front of me at a horizontal angle.

The ruined and hellish world blurred past my vision. Sprays of blood and gore splattered me in a heavy stream. Then I crashed into a press of bodies and bowled through them, knocking them aside as I flipped and tumbled to a stop among them.

I felt no dizziness. My mind remained alert, and so did my body. I got to my feet and glanced back as eight ghouls landed in separate splatters, their upper bodies split far from their lower bodies.

[You’ve slain (8) Rank 1 ghoul(s)!]

My Path Energy dropped from 98% to 88% before rising to 93%!

I turned toward an alleyway between two structures that were still standing, if only barely. My long strides carried me there rapidly.

Any ghoul that got in my way faced a growling Hellion. For every two I slaughtered, my Path Energy reserves went up by 1%.

[You’ve slain (4) Rank 1 ghoul(s)!]

Breaking free of the horde, I ran down the alley. A dead end came up in my way. Good. I had somewhere to put my back against.

Turning fast, I waited as the horde performed their shuffling run toward me.

In my hyperenergetic state, even with them running, their approach still seemed slow to me. Thankfully, they arrived before Hellion got nippy with me.

Be that the alley was narrow, the ghouls bumped and fell and tripped over each other to get to me. They kept getting in each other’s way, and all I had to do was let them feed themselves to me and Hellion.

The whirring chain met the face of the first ghoul to reach me at the alley’s dead end, and the consequence was instantaneous. The skull exploded from the sheer passion of kissing an autosaw.

I performed the same to the next ghoul to my left and turned its skull into spraying brain matter and bone chips. If their bodies collided with mine, it was because of sheer momentum after losing their heads.

I remained unmoved as I swept the autosaw horizontal from left to right. Two ghouls lost their arms and the top of their skulls while trying to reach for me.

[You’ve slain a Rank 1 ghoul!]

[You’ve slain a Rank 1 ghoul!]

[You’ve slain (2) Rank 1 ghoul(s)!]

I stood my ground, chopping and hacking with the autosaw, chewing ghoul skulls to pieces with its spiraling teeth. Their headless bodies formed into a mound in front of me, slowing their approach and making the battle against the horde even easier.

My Path Energy was at 100% without me having to try much as the battle became more workman and straightforward than I would’ve initially expected.

I couldn’t help but experiment again when ten of them came in a nearly perfect line. I braced my body, coiling up with tension and energy, before releasing it all with a forward burst.

My Path Energy dropped to 89%, and the bloody alley blurred past me as I slashed Hellion through ten ghouls at once. I tried to stop myself by digging my heels into the floor, and I half succeeded while plowing through a gang of ghouls at the end.

The autosaw ended up hacking through the ribcage of one of them, adding that as another kill.

Path Energy: 89% to 94%.

The impact knocked down the ghouls near me while I stabilized on my feet, granting me some space even in the middle of the chaos. In fact, I was certain that had more to do with Path Energy shoving them aside than me, which I didn’t mind whatsoever.

There were less than half of them left. Seeing no reason to change tactics, I retreated toward the end of the alley.

Movement from above caught my attention, and I looked up just in time to see the ghoul with the shield and glaive exit a hole in the second floor wall and come down on me with a surprise attack.

Rank 2 Suppression struck down, which the monster had held back until this moment. My movements stopped being crisp and easy because of that. I had to explode with some effort to dodge the diving strike before it impaled my back.

The glaive still caught me, slashing down my left side, along my torso and upper leg. My blood splashed down into the already soaked alley. My Path Energy dropped from 94% to 84%.

As the Rank 2 monster crashed down with a heavy thump, I hit the alley wall hard, with the wall sinking into a crater against me. The injury felt like a line of fire, but my Path Energy was quick to stymie the blood flow.

I remained on my feet, ready to fight with Hellion at my side. Yet, I knew that wasn’t enough. Against the Rank 2 monster, which was already spinning to carve its glaive through me, I needed more.