novelraw Book 3: Chapter 47
Book 3: Chapter 47
Penalty!!!
Fewer experience points rewarded for killing beasts of a lower level than yourself with the [ Drone ] Trait!
“What? I get less experience for those kills? What a load of crock!” Aaron blinked with frustration at the notification.
[ Empty-Handed Energy Monk ] has LEVELED UP!
84 → 86
Two levels in one battle would have been a decent achievement under any other circumstances, but Aaron had been absolutely slaughtering his way through the ants, and it felt like a bit of a kick. Also, he had to wonder what the hell was a Drone Trait?
It was at that moment that he remembered the names of the ants he had been fighting. Everything had “drone” in it. Formic Soldier Drone, Lightning Drone, Winged Formic Drone, and so on.
He hadn’t thought much about it at the time, but obviously, drone meant something. And he had a feeling it was related to their power, and perhaps other things.
And while they were lower level than him, this just didn’t feel appropriate for the epic battle he had just fought through.
The slaughter that had taken place was of truly epic proportions, but the sheer size of it brought him to another thought. As strong as he was, he doubted he could pull off something comparable against others of a similar level to the ants. For example, the people of Dober would, without a doubt, put up a better fight, at least relative to numbers.
Ultimately, they would lose to the ant swarm, but it would be due to overwhelming numbers and relentlessness, rather than their pure power. And Aaron was certain that if you took 100 ants of the same level, and 100 people from Dober, the fight wouldn’t even be close.
Maybe Drone is some kind of minion tag. Basically meaning that they are weaker than normal people and beasts.
Returning his thoughts to the task at hand, he turned to see where the others were. They were just about done mopping up the straggler ants.
Perhaps even more noticeable than the drone Trait was the fact that once the ant logistics and formation had been disrupted, the remnants hadn’t been much of an issue to deal with. And he could tell that the others weren’t struggling with clean-up duties.
“Okay, let’s figure out what’s going on around here,” Aaron mumbled and walked deeper into the jungle.
He took careful steps, looking around and aware of the confused ants scuttling in all directions. But they weren’t what was on his mind. He wanted to know what happened to the simian reaver that had completely bodied him last time he was here.
And to figure that out, he raised [ Gorgon’s Soul Vortex ]. “Now, let’s see—”
—Whack!!
Aron raised his arms in defense just in time to block and attack with his gauntlets. And the only reason he was able to was his slowed perception of time, as the attack had flashed out far too quickly for normal eyes to see.
A second attack slammed against his gauntlets, and bladed leaves shot out from it, carving wounds across his arms.
As another attack came his way, he dodged with [ Spectral Rush ], and countered with a flurry of his own attacks, but just enough to make this furious enemy back off an inch, and to get a moment to figure out what the hell was going on.
It was all a blur of action, but [ Gorgon’s Soul Vortex ], he managed to slow things down enough to see what was attacking him.
It was an upright ant, with a hard carapace and fur sticking out between the plates of it, with hands and dagger-length claws protruding out. Not only that, but a whirlwind of razor-sharp leaves swirled around the ant as it attacked, the leaves adding many additional attacks to what were already impossibly fast attacks.
As it rushed forward again, swinging its claws in wild, deadly slicing arcs, it took every ounce of effort to stop himself from being cut into ribbons.
It was moving so stupidly fast that if not for having slowed his perception of time, it would have cut him apart several times over already.
But that wasn’t enough to scare Aaron from a fight, and with a mighty roar and a dizzying display of counter strikes, he managed to hold the impossibly fast ant back for a few seconds, and then burst out of range with spectral energy to inspect his enemy.
Formic Reaver [ Level 140 ]
The ant didn’t have the Titles of the simian reaver, but Aaron was certain they were related somehow. But as far as he was aware, the ants could only steal powers. Not whatever this was... this was as if the ants had cloned the reaver into one of their own.
His Soul Vortex also told him that this ant had some kind of nature and wind affinity, which was new to him, as he believed one could only take a single affinity.
And not only that, but his thing didn’t have “drone" in its name.
“Well, I guess we knew it’d get harder in the jungle,” Aaron muttered as he limbered up for another round.
He wasn’t going to be able to fight this thing like he normally would. Its speed was on a completely different level than anything he had seen. And it had a decent level advantage over him, backing it up.
“I might regret this,” Aaron clenched his fists as he weakened his metaphorical grip on his core, allowing it to cycle naturally and generate far more power.
“Aargh!” He grunted, stumbling forward and gritting his teeth as he felt his body being pulled apart by his own core. “I think I'd better make this a quick one.”
***Talia***
Talia had been more than happy to stay back and let Aaron take the vanguard. The ant drones had surprised her on many occasions, and if she hadn’t remained close to the squads, she was certain that things wouldn’t have gone as smoothly as they had.
Injuries were mounting up, and healers were working double time. But so far, they hadn’t taken a single death. That said, it was mostly due to the fact that they were fighting a broken and disorganized force that had already been rampaged and terrorized by Aaron.
She looked over to where Zero led the goblin wolf riders, their constant movement making it impossible for the scattered ants to counter properly, and allowing them to fairly easily pick the ants apart.
If nothing else, this battle would make a great learning experience for many. Especially the wolf riders, most of whom were still rather green.
“Alright, everyone! We’re not far from the jungle now. Let’s move!” She called out, and with a swing of her scepter, her shadowy avatar swept its massive sword, cleaving dozens of ants away in a single strike.
Walking toward the jungle, she grabbed her first mana potion of the battle from her spatial storage and chugged it down in anticipation. The battle hadn’t been too hard, but she had used a decent amount of energy, and she wanted to be fresh for whatever came next.
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Finishing the bottle, she discarded it and rushed forward, swinging her avatar’s massive blade with every step and killing multiple ants with every strike.
But as she neared the jungle, she skidded to a halt. Her danger senses flared, screaming at her to stay away. And then she felt it and knew why.
An incredible aura and energy signal rushed out from the jungle, and she felt her heart quicken. Her hands trembled at the extraordinary power, and she gulped as she tried to steady herself.
Dammit, get a grip of yourself!!!
Talia clenched her jaw and slapped her face. Now wasn’t the time to let fear overwhelm her. If this was the ant queen, then so be it. She had Aaron by her side, and together, they would find a way to beat this incredible beast.
Flooding her own body with energy, she willed herself forward, ignoring her danger senses. Aaron was in there, in the jungle, alone with whatever this was, and she wasn’t about to abandon him.
What is this energy? Is this peak D-grade? No… it couldn’t be, could it? Could the queen really be C-grade already?!
The thought that the queen might have already reached C-grade sent a chill running through her, and all her courage had become shaky.
If they were truly faced against a C-grade beast, it was all over. Such a challenge was far too far above them, and the amount of tricks and plans would be enough to overcome such a wide gulf.
Still, she hadn’t come this far because she let fear rule her, and she didn’t betray friends. Even if this was a C-grade beast, and their fate was sealed, she would face it with the same steely determination she had her Tutorial.
However, as she took several steps forward, and the jungle proper came into view, her jaw dropped.
“Aaron?”
Blinking in disbelief, she could hardly believe such power was coming out of him, but it clearly wasn’t without cost, as she could also sense that his body was struggling to keep the power controlled.
It was like a helicopter was landing. Wind was blowing in all directions by the power of his passive energy, kicking up dirt and sending leaves and debris flying.
Talia knew about his True Core, but she had never seen anything like this. Was this the true extent of his core’s power? And if so, what dangers was he exposing himself to by using it?
But before she could even complete the thought, Aaron and ant flashed toward each other and collided with a tremendous shockwave.
Talia gasped at the raw power. It was extraordinary, and her eyes could barely keep up with everything that was going on.
Rippling energy burst out into deadly arcs with each clash, and shockwaves ripped trees from the ground and sent them flying. This fight was on another level, but when they broke their engagement for a second, she saw blood around Aaron’s mouth. He looked tired, and his expression was strained, and yet she couldn’t see a single wound on him.
That idiot! Is he using more power from his core than he can handle?
The two of them clashed again, and she saw Aaron eat something between strikes. He was healing himself, but from what she could tell, he still hadn’t taken a hit.
Talia flashed red. This stubborn idiot was going to get himself killed, and after he’d just spent so many days resting.
But she knew that, as reckless as he was, he wasn’t a fool. If he was continuing this fight in such a state, that meant he needed to.
Talia started gathering energy into her armor, preparing to join Aaron in his battle, but as she did, she glanced around and noticed that the drones were regrouping, and some of them were already almost upon her and her company. If she went to help Aaron, she would be leaving her already-tired troops to face the wave of ants alone.
For a moment, she wavered, weighing her trust in Aaron against her trust in her men, and with a grimace, she turned away from Aaron. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust the people standing behind her. It was that if their defensive line failed, many would die, while she knew that even in his current state, Aaron could hang on for a while. He wouldn’t die so easily. It was more important for her to protect the others than it was to help him.
Don’t get yourself killed, Aaron!
She gripped her scepter and marched forward. Maybe she couldn’t help against the reaver, but she wasn’t useless. And she was going to make these drones hurt.
With a roar that sounded like she was bashing a tennis ball through dimensional barriers, she flew into the gathering swarm, a bead of sweat tracing her forehead as she attempted to push her pace to another level.
Seeing Aaron’s absurd power had lit something deep within her. Realisation. If she didn’t keep pushing herself, she was going to be left behind.
And just as her massive blade swiped through the gathering horde of drones, she looked up to see Aaron slam into the reaver ant with such force that a booming sound flooded across the land. And when they separated, she saw a spray of green blood gush outward from the ant, splattering the trees all around.
“He did it! He got it! Now it’s my turn!”
But her expression quickly soured as she noticed Aaron. The incredible aura and overwhelming energy signal had disappeared just like that, and he looked oh so very slow as the blood-covered reaver ant got to its feet and rushed toward him in a blur.
***Aaron***
Death came quickly, but it hadn’t been without gain. He had pushed his core way too far, and he felt like he was about to pull his soul apart in the process.
But he knew that he had struck true, and glistening blood staining the reaver was all the confirmation he needed. But the fight was far from over. Not only that, but despite drawing on the incredible power of his core, he had been more controlled. He hadn’t just crashed into the reaver ant with incredible power; he had avoided its strikes and picked his targets carefully.
And while Yendal might scold him for relying on such power, he was pretty happy with how he managed it. And he felt like it was an undeniable improvement from the first time he had fought the reaver, especially since the reaver ant was undeniably stronger than the simian had been.
He thought back to his first battle, when he had panicked and wasted energy and nearly lost his life for good. While using his True Core made it impossible not to waste energy, he was certainly fighting much better this time. Although the reaver had an enormous advantage in terms of speed, he had thus far been able to keep a cool head, using Fate Weaver to predict and react, and though its raw speed and power had still managed to overwhelm him, he was improving by the second.
Resurrecting only seconds after dying, he caught the ant off-guard and planted a devastating [ Soul Shattering Strike ] into its side. And followed up with a haymaker that crackled and bubbled with the extraordinary residual energy from his core. He had siphoned the energy out to keep himself from exploding, and when his fist touched the reaver ant, the results were magnificent.
With an instantaneous bang, the reaver was flung across the jungle, slamming straight through several trees and flattening them before coming to a resounding halt against a massive, primal tree that towered up into the clouds.
But almost as fast as it had flown when getting struck, the reaver ant was up again, and shooting back toward him with a furious bent to its insectoid brow.
Spectral energy enveloped Aaron as his form went incorporeal, dodging the insanely fast claws that swung at him one after another, but even with his speed and Skills, it was too much. Wounds started to build up across his body, and he pulled on his adipose reserves in a desperate attempt to heal himself.
But no matter how perfectly he timed his moves and attacks, or how well he read fate, the reaver was just too damn fast, and the steely razor leaves rushing around it seemed to make it move even quicker.
He had no choice. He couldn’t dodge forever, and if he was going to win this, he needed to land his own damage. And he decided to eat a deadly strike from the ant to get off one of his own, hitting it square in the chest with another [ Soul Shattering Strike ] before dying.
The moment he resurrected, he tried to follow up with another attack, but the ant wouldn’t be tricked twice. This was no drone, and it seemed obvious that it was smarter than the others.
Within seconds, he was on the back foot again, doing everything in his power to remain alive.
The reaver might have been even stronger than the bear, he thought. And when a particularly powerful strike came his way, he was forced to defend himself with [ Equal and Opposite ] to cancel the attack, giving his aether a chance to recover.
But in doing so, he drained himself of mana to complete the attack. His core was powerful, cycling and converting energy. But he was holding back to keep his soul together, and in that desperate moment, he decided to risk it for another second, and he let his core light up again as he drew on energy for a quick combination.
He threw his hands faster than he ever had before, and the exchange was deadly. But even during the short seconds that it lasted, he felt his soul fraying once more.
Still, it was incredible. [ Soul Shattering Strike ] and [ Turbocharged Haymaker ] powered by a true core meant for C grades and above was power at an absolutely ridiculous level, and the Formic Reaver’s energy organs were all shut down in an instant, and its energy reserves blasted away to nothing, leaving it completely vulnerable for the follow-up strike that blasted shell away, and sent the ant flying into another tree.
Its shell was completely shattered, fur was soaked in green blood, and yet it croaked and spattered, refusing to die as it climbed out of the hole it had been buried in by the force of Aaron’s punch.
The ant looked completely broken, but the damn thing wasn’t dead just yet, and Aaron couldn’t handle using his core for even a second longer.
He was forced to put the ring back on, too weak to control his own core, and staggering forward as weakness came over him.
“Looks like we’re both banged up.”
As shit as he felt, Aaron clenched his fists, ready to continue. “Alright. Let’s fucking finish this, you bloody bastard.”
But as strong as Aaron wanted to sound, an apprehensive shiver ran down his spine. He could hear the scuttling of ants all around. It was the drone horde, and in that moment, he got the feeling that the sonar wasn’t having the same effect on their organization anymore.
Great, just fucking great.