novelraw Chapter 10: Deep Blue, Heal Me
Chapter 10: Deep Blue, Heal Me
The moment the dagger pierced through, Kiriman only felt a numbness in his calf before excruciating pain surged through him, nearly making him lose his balance.
The Viper Fang dagger truly lived up to its reputation as the Viper School's secret venomous weapon. Not only did it have blood grooves carved into the blade for rapid bloodletting, but its curved edge was perfect for poison application and wound enlargement.
A single stab would be fatal to ordinary people. With the medical capabilities of this era, unless a mage or druid intervened, survival was nearly impossible.
Seeing blood gushing from his calf like a fountain, streaming down the dagger, Kiriman knew he'd go into shock from blood loss within minutes without immediate treatment.
Worse still, necrotic energy seemed to be invading his body through the wound. An icy, corrosive pain spread upward from his calf.
It was hard to say whether he'd faint from blood loss first or die from necrotic corrosion.
Yet Kiriman felt no fear.
Disregarding potential wound aggravation, he decisively swung his sword downward, severing the wraith's wrist.
He then grabbed the Viper Fang dagger, yanked it from his calf, and instead of discarding it, shrewdly stored it in his inventory space.
This was his special disarmament technique - during future battles, simply touching an enemy's weapon would allow instant disarmament, serving as both a trump card and outright cheating.Even after losing its head and a wrist, the Kovirghm wraith showed no signs of weakening.
Ordinary attacks seemed largely ineffective against this specter, and Kiriman hadn't yet learned magical assaults.
He watched as necrotic energy within the wraith formed tendrils that reconnected its severed head and wrist, rapidly pulling them back for reattachment.
Allowing this would prolong the battle - a terrible idea for a flesh-and-blood human fighting a death-transcending wraith.
Resolving himself, Kiriman sheathed his silver sword into storage space, no longer conserving soul energy despite his injuries, and mentally shouted:
"Deep Blue, heal me!!" Follow current novels on novel{f}ire.net
He kneed the Kovirghm wraith's chest to immobilize it while grabbing its flying head with both hands, holding it before his eyes.
Simultaneously channeling all his magic power, he formed the Soul Absorption sign with one hand and activated it against the wraith's forehead, enduring its relentless clawing attacks beneath him.
Silver-white magical light erupted, enveloping the necrotic energy around Kovirghm's wraith. Like encountering its natural enemy, the dark energy was completely suppressed by this radiance.
The witcher's magic power rapidly depleted, transforming into formidable soul-sucking force that violently twisted and pulled from the wraith's pitch-black eye sockets.
It attempted to forcibly extract three evil spirits from the wraith and devour them.
Meanwhile, the Witcher King system Kiriman had named "Deep Blue" responded to its master's command.
Silver soul energy enveloped his wounds, expelling invasive necrotic energy while instantly staunching his calf's bleeding. The injury visibly healed at remarkable speed.
A mechanical system voice continuously echoed in Kiriman's ears:
"Treating wounds. Soul energy consumed: 1 point."
"Treating wounds. Soul energy consumed: 1 point."
"Treating wounds. Soul energy consumed: 1 point."
...
Within twenty seconds, his calf wound completely healed, with all necrotic energy purged.
The only pain came from realizing such healing consumed nearly one soul energy per second - twenty points vanished in moments.
Relieved to be cleansed of necrotic corrosion, Kiriman understood why this healing ability gave him, a transmigrator, the courage to battle terrifying monsters.
With sufficient soul energy, unless instantly killed, he was virtually immortal.
The only trouble was soul energy accumulated slowly but depleted rapidly - whether for healing, skill upgrades, or physical enhancements, it required painstaking personal accumulation.
Serious injuries became losing propositions, demanding careful resource management.
As his magic power dwindled, Soul Absorption's effect intensified.
After nearly a minute's stalemate, the Kovirghm wraith beneath Kiriman finally succumbed. Its soul core, stripped of necrotic protection, was violently extracted from the skull's black sockets.
Two faint soul orbs and one tainted with black energy were absorbed into Kiriman's body.
Seconds later, emotionless mechanical voices announced:
"Absorbed faint soul. Soul energy +3."
"Absorbed faint soul. Soul energy +3."
...
Huh? Only two notifications?
Exhausted from the intense battle, Kiriman frowned in confusion.
Two wraiths plus Kovirghm's remnant soul should have triggered three rewards.
This battle might end at a loss - four wraiths total, each providing only three soul energy points, totaling twelve.
His healing alone cost twenty points.
Even ignoring combat material losses, only if Kovirghm's wraith yielded over eight points could he break even - an unlikely scenario, as ordinary souls typically provided three to five points regardless of quality.
The three hunter brothers he'd killed earlier had only yielded three points each - inferior quality.
While witchers generally had better souls, exceeding eight points remained extremely difficult, especially for a remnant soul.
Puzzled, Kiriman warily scanned the tomb before entering light meditation to inspect his soul space.
Within the void-like soul space, his own soul orb slowly rotated amidst intangible soul storms that protected him.
The three hunter souls and four wraith souls had already been crushed and absorbed by the storms.
Only one black-tinged soul orb remained, stubbornly resisting dissolution as it slowly spun.
This was unprecedented.
Perplexed, Kiriman concentrated, directing his will to investigate the black soul orb's condition.
After dozens of seconds, he opened his eyes with mixed emotions - both pleased and wistful.