C71: Or Am I the Monster?
5/19/26
-------------------------------------------------------------
[You Died]
I rise from beside the lamp, a look of confusion on my face as what happened should not be physically possible. The system had barely finished explaining the modifiers before some random guy started talking and we both died then and there.
"What level are the modifiers?" I question the system
[All but one of the modifiers are epic grade. Sword master is a rare modifier. A full set of rare and higher modifiers has allowed said modifiers to merge into one legendary modifier. As a result, the boss' name has been modified. Ludwig the Accursed has been changed to Ludwig, the Beastly Sword Saint.]
"..."
"...."
"That still doesnt explain that speed at all. I thought I was already pushing the boundary on speed with my Soliloquey of Power but if this is how your acting then what is even the effect of the underlying modifiers?"
I begin to examine each modifier in turn. Graceful Guidance is one of the more confusing ones but it might be a movement feature being 'graceful' and all. Stabilized steps gives the impression of being related to my old skill, Silent steps. It might be an extra movement skill modifier. Baneful Bones might be related to making Riposte harder for me since the bones are harder to break and thus cause it to stagger but i'll only know for sure when I can actually hit him.
Yet I can't for the life of me figure out what Repellant Reprieve means at all. Repellant is an item to keep something away, yet a reprieve is like a break or armistice. The two words don't have anything going for them together. I'm truly stuck until I can figure out what it is he is 'repelling'. Is it my entire life? My desire to hunt him down? The endless need for slaughter to be put on mute?
No, I don't see anything different about me.
"Wait…"
"NOOOOOOO"
"MY ECHOES!!!" I scream out in panic as I think about the best course of action. I still had plenty of echoes left over from just Roms fight, not to mention all the expedited and boosted echoes i got from the dungeon which came out to a few hundred thousand, especially the Ailing Loran chalice which gave at least 100k per floor which only grew more layer.
"Speed, I need to be faster, stronger. I got lazy and now my hubris is kicking my ass." I begin training my speed based skills immediately, dashing all over the place, figuring out how to use the stone beneath my feet to project me in various directions via Earth manipulation. Wall dashing, Air steps. Though I do have to say that storing water or other liquids away only to bring them out and freeze it for sliding around is pretty nice too.
'I could totally be a figure skater at this rate. '
'NO, that's the wrong train of thought.' I berate myself before returning to my training. I'm sure if Simon was still outside the chapel, he would have looked at me very weirdly when I finally came out. Though I did momentarily forget that im not at the main chapel anymore but that side path just outside the boss arena.
As for the specific reason I did finally end my training spree after just an hour.
[Soliloquy of Power has leveled up: level 2-> level 4]
But thats not all. I used all the accumulated skill shards on pet bond and soliloquy of Power. Letting it level up once more and the other to evolve.
[Pet bond skill has leveled up level 5 -> Level 10. Skill has reached max level. Evolve skill?]
"Yes"
[Pet Bond has evolved. Into {Emphatetic} Greater Bond]
[Registered Pet-Gerald can be selected for bonding now]
"LETZZ GO" i cheered as I initiated the bond once more and was quite surprised by what I got, though not without a few vocal objections against my own system for essentially screwing me over.
[Due to lack of mastery, elemental control skills cannot be shared with host. Individual skills of elemental control skills can be transferred and subsumed by Cosmology]
"Shit" I end my endless show of curses at my system, but the subsidiary pet system is quite a darling.
[4 possible skills that can be selected: Wind armor, wind step, pressure bolt, wind blade, Storm blow, Storm augment, Water armor, water walk, water Jet, Water Spikes, Water Sphere, Hydro wall, Fog Wall.]
"Why are some of them outlined?" I ask the pet system and like a little dear, it answers with full detail.
[ "These skills are ones boosted by the extra suffix of {Harrowing}, they possess additional effects and boosted power compared to the unselected skills, yet they also consume more mana as a result. " ]
"I see. Good,then I've made my choice. I'll take a wind blade, storm augment, water armor and Hydro wall." I chose the skills since I wanted some of the offensive and defensive skills. I did just die after all. I certainly know that I am being threatened.
[Skills selected, binding to master] The pet system informs me as I gain a share of Gerald's understanding of the skills as they merge with my cosmology but since they were obtained as a result of my other skills, they didn't provide all that much xp to cosmology itself. I trained a bit in these new abilities to get the hang of them.
That is why I make my preparations on returning to the boss by training a bit more in actual combat. I go down the long flight of stairs to a very rancid looking locations that overlooks a dead end with tons of corpses, crows and a single huntsman standing on the edge of an area higher above me.
I use water armor as a test to see how effective it is and it's certainly enough to block gun shots, so that's nice. I then let the hunter wail on me with his beastcutter to only hurt me by a bit.
The damage only dealt small chunks but chunks nonetheless, but even then, that was likely the Caryll rune curses' doing.
I then tested out the storm augment and hydro wall. The water on me due to the lack of other water with the exception of the pool of blood below to use. Turned off my armor to make a solid wall of water that the beastcutter and bullets were only able to ever get halfway through the wall, not even touching me this time around.
As for Storm augment, it realized that it was only really a partial storm aspect as it utilizes wind and water to cover my weapon to cause increased bleed damage as well as increasing the range of my weapon attacks since the aura surrounding my cleaver is longer than the cleaver itself, but that was likely a bad cast since I just did the automatic movements, it's probably more designed for longer weapons such as the Reitterpallasch that is more sword like.
Of course I won't let such a thing hold me back as right in front of the hunter, I keep reaugmenting my weapon until I can do it properly with the saw cleaver, then I repeat the process again with Null and the Tontritus.
With the Saw cleaver, the shorter range directly transitioned to doing more damage instead. The opposite is what happened with Null, it received an overall boost but it's much smaller due to a simple fact that Null shares with my Tonritus.
The factor in question is the power of BOLT. Since Bolt is essentially just electricity, it acts as a temporary lightning element to the (knockoff) storm which knocks into overgear as I now have two weapons that have literal lightning bolts scattering around them. Their durability is dropping faster than normal as a result but for a short term effect, it's far more effective on these two since they already had low durability but im sure with a few more upgrades, they could become unstoppable beasts.
As a result of the lowered durability, the bolt damage on them is doubled if not tripled in the case of the Tontritus. I assume it has to do with the fact that Null has a weaker bolt generator on it than the Tontritus. I can likely only use the tontritus three times with the storm augment and up to 6 times on Null but the saw cleaver doesnt lose anything so other than the mana drain, I can keep it eternally on.
Ending my little pre-boss exploration, I had dropped down to where the crows were, got myself the whirligig saw where I then dropped back down again to where the other crows and the shotgun hunter were. I climb back up, jumping halfway up the ladder first. Then I deal with the two tentacled servants, the one with the gun and the other with the giant battle axe.
When I had first killed them, it was only formally, just plain mutilation. This time I properly time it and get the riposte on both to carve out their souls. Yet you would not believe the strangest things always happen to me.
After killing the one with the axe, I had gone after the one with the cannon. When you get close, he is likely to use his cannon as a hammer to squash you but timing my riposte. I got the parry and visceral, yet it felt far different than ever before when I did this. My greater sense as if in overdrive. I felt something new.
So I followed that instinct, ever so deeply, ever so harmfully, ever so madly. I grabbed, and tore. Yet it resisted, even the tremor ever so. But my instinct guided me in a new way. A faster way. A way more brutal than ever before.
So I twisted, and turned that soul. Knocking it loose of it's default alignment.
And crushed it, while still inside the servant's body.
The body knocked loose of all that is it's soul, turns to dust with my hand still inside. The soul having no where else to go in it's shattered state.
Flows into me.
It's like electricity flowing through my body, or just a real bad case of static electricity hitting on the funny bone as the entire right side of my body heats up before I feel it flow into my mind.
I experience the memories of the poor fool that I just killed, the long and arduous path before madness took hold and it came here. This 'person' had a purpose here once more. Ever so close to properly being tainted, it had morphed into a beast closer to Kin than any before.
Yet it now fell to me, the essence overjoyed as it becomes closer to Kin than it shall ever be.
[+2 stat points free for distribution.]
[ {Hollow--Tremor} Visceral Attack has leveled up. Level 2-> level 5]
[A mutation has occurred in the skill. Allow the mutation to take form?]
"Yes"
[Visceral attack has gained the suffix {Eldritch}]
[ New skill: {Hollow--Tremor} Visceral {Eldritch} Attack has formed]
[Congrats on getting your first {eldritch] modifier. Title: Nightmare has been acquired.]
[Nightmare (title): You have witnessed far beyond what the human mind can comprehend, perhaps you have delved into arts which were beyond the mortal coil. Your reward brings you ever so closer. Eldritch Arm acquired]
"Eldritch arm?" I pause in my steps back to the boss, I am only a few steps away from the fog gate. My presence undetected by the nearby witch of hemwick as I activate the new skill. My weapon is automatically summoned to my inventory as my arm morphs, flesh remade under a black and purple coat of fog into new form.
A tentacle.
I gaze upon my new appendage and allow it loose at the unsuspecting witch as my new tendril flows right through her back, right against her soul and once more turned and twisted, and crushed, only to flow back into me once more.
My arm returns to normal, saw cleaver in hand, as if nothing had ever happened, yet I know that was not true.
[Visceral attack has leveled up. Level 5-> level 6]
[+1 stat point free to distribute]
I know that I am no longer human, but am I a monster now too?
------------------------------------------------------------
Word Count = 2140