[1% LIFESTEAL] Chapter 186 - The Arrival

The days were getting a lot colder. It already snowed on a daily basis. Looking out at the valley that would soon flood with hostile entities, Freddy couldn’t help but feel a little excited. While he hated fighting people, he had to admit—he was actually rather fond of going up against monsters. It was more earnest and fun, without any of the guilt and bullshit humans brought with them.

He looked behind him, seeing the imposing wall just about a mile away. They were waiting for the mercenaries, and then, it would finally be time to set off.

Standing beside him were the recently renamed Drake and Lily. He was slowly getting used to calling them that. 

Drake stood at over 7 feet tall, his wide bulk casting an imposing shadow on the ground. The silver-colored plate armor he wore was on the lighter side, but the metallic suit still added a good bit of width to him, further enhancing his presence. 

His halberd, a deviation from the spear he was used to, was damn massive. It was made of a black metal and enchanted with greater durability and minor self-repair. And it was imbued with a two-star tzenekite imbuement. The self-repair function would be enough to stop the edge from dulling, but any chipping or cracks would have to be fixed manually. 

Beside him was Lily, his wife, actually. Freddy had ended up officiating a marriage between them. Granted, they didn’t consider it a “real” marriage—it was really just to have some extra papers further distancing them from their former identities.

Lily was also clad in plate, but her figure was quite a bit less imposing than Drake’s. The greatsword looked comically large in her hands, but she held it casually, as if it weighed nothing. Wasn’t far from the truth, really, given that the metal it was made from was among the lightest they could find. 

Not too far from them was Sophia, who was in the middle of stretching. Well, stretching wasn’t the right way to put it, since it suggested she was doing stretches like a normal person. No, she was actually quite literally stretching her body up and down to practice modifying her height. It was a comical sight. She wore regular clothing, without even a self-repair rune. 

Freddy had tried to convince her to at least get something that can fix itself, but she insisted she would have no need for it. He could only take her word, he supposed.

That being said, none of them looked anywhere near as funny as he did.

White his new equipment felt damn good, almost like a second skin, the upper piece was a bit too skin-tight for his liking. Combined with the golden mask beneath the white hood, he looked straight-up insane. 

The others were trying not to stare or make fun of him. Well, Drake and Lily were, at least. Sophia had relentlessly bullied him when he first put it on.

Yet, despite the looks, it really was a wonderful set of equipment. He didn’t feel even slightly cold or hot. It regulated his temperature so perfectly he could close his eyes and pretend it was a pleasant spring day. 

Now, it was only a matter of waiting for the mercenaries.

“Where the hell are they?” Freddy muttered. “I’m paying some good money for those guys, if they’re late for even a minute, I swear I’ll sue them.” Still grumbling to himself, he moved to the nearest rock and took out his notebook. He’d actually never gotten around to writing down his progress after the Century of Solitude. 

It was about damn time he did. 

GATHERING:

Second star—199% essence capacity 

2-star satellite

TALENT:

1% Lifesteal: Dynamic-quality healing 

SOUL CONSTRUCT: 

Scythe: Essence Extraction

TEMPERING TECHNIQUES: 

Blood affinity:

Sea of Blood: Stage 3—0% Progress 

Crimson Mercury: Stage 3—0% Progress 

Purifying Crimson Spring: Stage 3—0% Progress 

Water affinity: 

Adaptive Water Body: Stage 1—Complete

Hundred Thousand Wet Hells: Stage 3—0% Progress 

Abyssal Depths: Stage 3—0% Progress 

Water Body: Stage 3—0% Progress 

ACTIVE ABILITIES: 

Blood affinity: 

Terror Knuckles: Stage 3—0% Progress

Blood Javelin: Stage 3—0% Progress

Absorb Blood: Stage 2—39% Progress 

Accelerate Blood Projectile: Stage 3—0% Progress

Sanguine Avenger: Stage 3—0% Progress 

Knuckle Blade: Stage 3—0% Progress 

Crimson Wing Shield: Stage 3—0% Progress

Dissipate Wave: Stage 3—0% Progress

Crimson Dragon Scales: Stage 2—26% Progress

Water affinity:

Tsunami Strike: Stage 3—0% Progress

Hydraulic Flex: Stage 3—0% Progress 

Create Water: Stage 3—0% Progress

Hydraulic Throw: Stage 3—0% Progress

Perished water affinity: 

Perished Water: Stage 0—51% Progress

Ghosts of the Drowned: Stage 0—51% Progress

CURSED ITEMS:

Ocean Medallion: -13% essence cost for water-affinity abilities.     

Ether Capture Ring: Conjures coins of pure aura

UNIQUE CURSED ITEMS:
Warrior King’s Pendant: Adds 13% damage and 13% durability to equipped weapons.
Blood Ring: -12% essence cost, +11% power for blood-affinity abilities. Can be used to release Bloodshed. Attacks inflict moderate bleeding.

The difference between this and the last time he took note was genuinely staggering. The craziest difference was probably in his Warrior King’s Pendant, which had seen a 5% boost to both functions after his fight against the three-stars of Repentawa. Those numbers were already getting large enough for the weapon to qualify as a high-end cursed item. And as far as Freddy was concerned, he wasn’t even close to done with developing it. 

The Blood Ring had seen a little less growth, but it was still a respectable upgrade. Besides, given how much blood he would spill, it wasn’t going to be left all that far behind. 

Their wait continued for another 13 minutes, and then, quite literally exactly on time, the three mercenaries appeared in the distance. 

All three of the men wore white camo over their armor. That being said, there were a few differences that allowed Freddy to easily tell them apart.

The scout was on the left. He was wearing strange goggles. Freddy had read the man’s report, so he knew that was a cursed item that helped the man perceive things more easily.

To the right was their support. He was wearing a dirty, ragged, gray scarf around his neck. That was a cursed item that gave the man a substantial discount to his unholy-affinity spells. It was actually a part of a set, but the other two items were under his camo suit, so he couldn’t see them.

And finally was their porter—he was a giant of a man. Not quite on the level of Drake, but close enough that it made him a real anomaly. 

The trio soon approached them, with the porter stepping forward to shake Freddy’s hand. “John Markward with his party, at your service.”

Freddy grabbed the man’s hand. Immediately, John tightened his grip and tugged on it. “I am the brother of our CEO. So I know about your little act of vandalism.” He shot Freddy a crooked grin. “You think you’re so smart, don’t you? But you better be careful. If you, or any of your other party members step as much as an inch out of line, I will bury you in lawsuits.”

“No need to worry about it, man,” Freddy said as he gripped just a little tighter than the man. “I am a law-abiding citizen who respects contract terms.” He also tugged a little, throwing the man off balance. “And I’m also expecting you to fulfill your obligations to the letter. Or I will bury you.” He paused. “In lawsuits, of course.”

The man scowled at him, then scoffed. “At least you have a spine.” He let his hand go and stepped back with a sneer. “I’m expecting great things from the famous lordling. We will do our jobs to the best of our ability. I just wonder whether you’ll be able to keep up.” Then, he glanced at Drake with a frown. “You’re a big fucker for a one-star. What the hell did they feed you as a kid?”

Drake laughed awkwardly without responding. 

John’s eyebrows jumped a bit as he shook his head. Then he spotted Sophia. He scowled at her. “Where the hell is her equipment?” he asked, turning back to face Freddy. “Are you sure these one-stars will be all right coming with us? Because we won’t be putting ourselves into undue danger to save them.”

“You don’t have to worry about it,” Freddy said. “They can handle themselves.”

“I’ve done my part in warning you.” John turned around and gestured at his crew. “These are my men. Both of them are highly qualified professionals. I expect you to give them the same respect you give me.”

The support stepped forward. “My name is Sting,” he said in a gruff voice.

“Eren Wing,” the scout added with a salute, his voice rather boyish and playful. “Pleasure to meet you.”

“Now then,” John said as he gestured at Freddy. “You are to take command from here. We will do as you say within reasonable boundaries.” He turned to look at a large pile of boxes that was stacked not too far from them. “I presume those are the supplies I am to carry?”

Freddy nodded. It was really just a shit ton of food pills and other random consumable items. 

The man approached the pile and then waved his hand. Right in the middle of the air, a rectangular hole in space opened, revealing a small space with a large number of storage rings hanging on well-organized wires. He took a few of them out and started putting the stuff away.

Before long, they were finally headed for their destination.

Lifting his left arm, Freddy touched the watch to pull up a hologram. It revealed the map to their destination. 

Throughout the wilderness between the coming horde and Repentawa, a number of small bunkers had been created. These would be the places where they could rest and recover between fights.

Every four days of action, they would have one day of rest. The other four teams headed by the elites would also get a break in the same interval, but never on the same day, to ensure there is a minimum of four teams in action at any given moment. 

Their trip to the nearest bunker was relatively short—only about half an hour. 

Freddy found the hatch hidden beneath the snow and used his watch to unlock it. It clicked, and he lifted it with one hand. 

The bunker wasn’t too deep underground, but it was deep enough to be safe even if a fight took place on top of it. The bunker itself was composed of a single, circular room that looked much like a lounge, with ten doors along the length of the round wall, each leading to a small private room with a bed. 

Frankly, it was a lot more spacious and comfortable than Freddy had expected. 

They only checked it out for a few minutes before continuing to their destination. 

Their scout went ahead to find a good place, and before long, they were on top of a small hill, hiding behind a tree and looking down the base of a mountain. 

Freddy checked his watch. A large, pulsing red dot was heading their way—it was the approximate location of one of the groups of monsters headed their way. Zooming out, he spotted dozens of such dots scattered throughout the wilderness before them.

Their wait was short. Bursting out of a small grove was a veritable horde of hundreds of giant, spider-like monsters. Their snow-white bodies were almost perfectly circular in shape, and their four cyan legs extended into sharp blades. They walked on the snow as if they weighed nothing. 

“Predominantly two-stars,” the scout noted. “Lots of essence capacity per star.” He sucked air through gritted teeth. “Almost 200%. These are scary things. I recommend we slowly trim down about 30% of their numbers before heading—”

“You guys wait here,” Freddy said as he conjured Sanguine Avenger. He also conjured his Crimson Dragon Scales, and his forearm shields. One hand had his Terror Knuckles, and the other his trusty Knuckle Blade. 

He extracted the Warrior King’s Pendant out of his storage ring and swung it about his neck. Instantly, a powerful glow enveloped all his gear, with criss-crossing lines of gold creating almost tech-looking patterns. “Support. I’ll need that unholy stamina blessing.”

“Hold on, there!” The scout, Frank, shouted. “If you get injured, we’re not going to step in to save you. There are too many monsters coming, so if you get caught out there, you’re going to die.”

Freddy looked at the man. “I appreciate the concern.” He looked back at the support. “Anyway, the blessing?”

The support, Sting, glanced at John, and then shrugged, tapping Freddy on the shoulder. “Suit yourself.” He cast the Unholy Blessing of Stamina.

“Oh, me too!” Sophia insisted. 

“I think I’ll wait this one out…” Drake said, “I’ll test myself on smaller things, first.”

Lily quietly stepped beside him. 

Freddy nodded at them. “Good idea.” The blessing finally triggered, and he felt it coil around him. It was like a serpentine demon, with a wide grinning face anxiously waiting to see what price he would pay. 

There was nothing actually there. Not even an illusion. It was just the feeling Freddy got as the ability settled in his body. And as soon as it did, he unhesitantly said, “All internal organs.”

His heart shut down. His lungs stopped moving. Everything else went numb.

The mercenary trio stared at him in shock, and he only grinned back at them.

Sophia repeated the same thing, and a moment later, they were rushing down the hill. 

“Crazy bastards…” John muttered as he watched them leave. 

Freddy felt amazing. The difference between this Unholy Blessing and the one he got from Shawn was immense. There was no raging energy coursing through his body, melting his organs into soup. It was subtle, calming—soothing almost. It reinforced his muscles, supplementing the nutrients within and making sure they went as far as humanly possible. 

He didn’t use Hydraulic Flex. He had to make sure he relied on his body as much as humanly possible. Every percent of essence he spent would accumulate, and even with the generous RETI of water, days of fighting would quickly catch up with him. 

So he simply ran, dragging his massive sword along with pure physical strength. Thankfully, he had plenty of that. 

He reached the spiders way before Sophia did and got to work. 

Their round, bulbous bodies had a radius of about the length of Freddy’s body. That was to say that they were damn massive from up close. He saw no apparent eyes at first, but when he got close enough, slits opened all across the bulb, revealing freaky blue eyes all across the surface, allowing the monsters to see in every direction. 

He also noticed that they eyes had square pupils. 

There was no point on his rectangular blade, but the corners were still sharp. The spider monster he fronted attacked him with an almost dismissive swing of its claw, like it barely even counted him as a threat. 

Its mistake cost it as a crimson blade suddenly impacted against its shell, corner-first, which caused the whole thing to crack like a massive egg. 

Freddy was shocked at the sheer amount of healing he received from his talent for killing the creature. They had quite a bit of biomass, and even 1% of that amounted to a notable deal of healing.

As soon as he felled the first monster, the others stopped and turned to face him, finally taking him as a true threat. 

He assumed that their talent was the thing that allowed them to skitter along the ice like they were weightless. And skitter they did, rapidly circling and approaching him with a speed that would have made him panic if he wasn’t so confident. His mask came in quite helpful, allowing him to keep track of monsters at the edge of his field of view.

At first, they resorted to a tactic of surrounding him and blowing freezing winds his way to slow his movements. When that didn’t work due to his armor, they squirted splashes of liquid that froze on contact into a hard, web-like substance. Unfortunately for them, Freddy’s armor made adhesives completely useless, so they just just kind of slid off him like raindrops off a polished window.

I love this armor. 

They changed their tactics again, shooting crystal bullets at him that exploded into a number of shards on contact. They easily pierced through his thin armor, but did literally nothing against the crimson scales beneath. And the armor just repaired itself immediately afterwards. 

I fucking looooooove this armor. 

His tactic, for the most part, remained the same. He swung his sword at them. Really, there wasn’t much to his approach. Their limbs were too frail to defend against the ridiculously dense weapon, and their shells cracked apart like eggs on contact. 

That being said, he did focus on minimizing his energy expenditure as much as possible. 

He figured out a small trick with Hydraulic Flex, where he used it just for the briefest of moments at the end of the swing. It allowed him to instantly stop the weapon and then swing it in the other direction, which almost created an illusion of weightlessness, like he was swinging around a plywood toy rather than a dense metal. 

Due to only using Hydraulic Flex for a split second, it only cost a fraction of a percent per use, which made it a sustainable option. 

Even with his incredible power, he was still forced to take the large number of monsters seriously. He briefly wondered how Sophia was doing, so he turned to look. He was shocked at what he saw. 

Sophia was stripping one of the spiders of its shell and morphing it into armor all across her skin. He watched her jump towards another monster, swinging a gauntleted fist. Just before hitting, her forearm sprung forward like a jackhammer, adding enough force to the attack to create a large crack along the monster’s shell. She continued to pummel it while nimbly dodging around. 

She wasn’t fast enough to dodge all of the two-star monster’s attacks, but even when she took damage, all it took was a single spark and she was back to perfect health. Before long, yet another monster was taken down.

It was frankly unbelievable. 

Shaking his head, he continued to focus on fighting. He was killing one monster every five seconds or so, but there were so many of them that he couldn’t help but feel a little slow. Still, he was whittling them down without much trouble. 

Eventually, a tiny, barely waist-sized brown deviant slithered its way between its larger brethren. It didn’t sink into snow like the others. Because it clearly had a different kind of talent. 

It didn’t take long to discover what this talent was. Ability power. It used its superior essence pool to summon a veritable forest of stone spikes beneath Freddy. None of them actually pierced his skin, and the tearing of his armor was fixed without an issue. That being said, he was struggling to find footing.

He raised a hand and conjured a Blood Javelin. The monster sensed he was about to attack and raised a dense wall of stone to protect itself. A wall that obviously quite underestimated the density of the incoming javelin. 

Freddy’s attack pierced the wall and then the monster, impaling it to the ground and ending its harassment campaign.

The two of them continued clearing the monster wave without much of a problem, eventually cleaning up every single one.

They returned to a shocked trio of veterans watching them like they were freaks of nature. Which they were, to be fair. 

“Come on,” Freddy said. “The Unholy Blessing is wearing off. I’d like to handle another crowd of monsters before it runs out.”

Following another red dot took them to a relatively small group of ice golems. They were primarily snow variants without much actual ice to them, and while their essence pools were freakishly large at 500% capacity at the first star, they were too mindless to do much with it. 

Sophia sighed at the sight. Inorganic monsters were a bit useless to her, given the way she was fighting. She was covered in a rather intricately-designed shell armor, striking an impressive figure. Freakishly enough, she had apparently attached it straight to her skin. 

The thing about life-affinity archhumans was that they were usually quite restricted with what they could risk. Ethereal Mercy had its limits—if they crossed the line and modified themselves too much, they would be stuck that way forever. 

Sophia had no such weakness.

While he couldn’t see her face, Freddy could tell she was grinning at him. 

So this is what she was going to show me, huh? Fair enough. 

For this fight, Freddy had Drake and Lily join them. 

Drake made quick work of the golem he was told to handle. The halberd was a scary weapon in the hands of someone so big yet so fast. He pummeled the poor thing without much trouble. 

Lily wasn’t quite as proficient. Not nearly. Frankly, she wasn’t actually all that talented of a fighter compared to Drake. 

However, her new body was quite strong, and her weapon was quite proficient. Even if she was using her greatsword more like a bat than an actual sword, she could still shave a good deal of mass off the golems, speeding their death up noticeably. 

Freddy, for his part, was using his sword like a bludgeon to blow the golems apart like large pinatas. He laughed at Sophia as she completely failed to kill even a single one. 

“Shit!” their scout suddenly shouted from the back. “Three-star metal deviant! Back away!”

Freddy paused. “Where?” he asked. 

“Close! Judging by the shape, it’s likely far more intelligent than these ones! We have to back away!” The scout froze suddenly. “Oh, crap!” 

Before Freddy could even ask what was happening, a three-meter tall mass of metal in the rough shape of a mannequin fell from the sky right before him.