Chapter 288
“You really took one down yourself?” Arhades asked, a look of incredulity on his face.
“We’ll talk more once you’ve recovered,” Kyle admonished, continuing to apply Healing Impetus. He could appreciate Arhades’ skepticism, given the velgian’s own wretched state. Even though he had also managed to slay a C Grade hodag, his body was a mess of bruises and cuts.
It was actually the beast’s dying roar that drew Kyle to its location, C.H.A.D.D. tracing the remnant mana from the massive sonic attack. When he arrived, Kyle saw the battlefield even more ruined than usual, with the hodag’s tail and one of its forelimbs having been sliced cleanly off. Arhades had been blasted away, and Kyle found him slumped against a tree, bleeding and barely conscious.
Fortunately, velgian and human anatomy were pretty similar, all things considered, and the passive effects of Healing Impetus were helpful no matter what. Arhades would still need to take a few days to get back into fighting condition, but none of his injuries were likely to result in permanent damage.
Once he was stabilized, Kyle sat down nearby, pulling out a pogrit seed from the C.H.A.D.D. pack and absentmindedly began to chew on it. “So, how did your new skill test go?” Kyle asked.
Arhades just stared at him for a moment, before smiling. “It went well. It was able to remove the tail in a single slash, and the front leg in two. Unfortunately, the bones and muscle behind its head are still too dense for me to reliably cut through. Were it not for the sonic attack, I would have been fine.”
“Impressive,” Kyle agreed. “With a few more levels, you’ll probably be able to take these things out in one blow.”
“Which brings me back to my question, Kyle. How did you walk away from your fight without any injuries at all?”
“I also had something different to test,” Kyle said, deciding to keep the specifics vague. “It’s a very limited use weapon that I commissioned, and the hodag seemed like the perfect opponent to test it against.”
“I see,” Arhades said, wincing as he nodded. “Do you intend to hunt any more of the beasts now that you have used your weapon, or has your time here come to an end?”
“I would still like to try,” Kyle said. “I’ve still got some distance to go before I get to Level 105, but I think taking on one or two alone could get me there.”
“What are your hesitations?” Arhades asked.
“Disabling the tail is still my biggest challenge,” Kyle said. “I’ve got some ideas, but if I’m being honest, I don’t think I can hold out long enough alone to kill it if its tail is still in the picture.”
“I see,” Arhades said, a thoughtful look on his face. “What if I were to remove the tail, and then leave the beast to you? That way you can continue your hunt for the next beast over the next day or two, and I will have time to practice my new skill while I’m recovering.”
“And what if that ends up with you in danger, and me having to save you?” Kyle countered.
“Then I trust you’ll do a good job saving me,” Arhades said flatly. “This is your decision, but I agree with your assessment. The hodag is a C Grade, after all. There is no shame in being unable to fight it squarely without support. However, if you want to push yourself, I am offering a helping hand. Nothing more, nothing less.”
“And what will I owe you to balance the scales?” Kyle asked.
“Nothing,” Arhades replied. “The opportunity to test my skill is valuable, particularly as it will have limited use in my standard work for the Mercenary’s Guild. They don’t send me on jobs where this level of power is required, after all.”
Kyle considered for a moment, while he received a gentle nudge of approval from C.H.A.D.D. “Then we’ll take off in the morning to take out the next one. After that, there will only be the three C Grades remaining.”
“And then our work here will be completed. Assuming we don’t find any others, of course.” Arhades mentioned the last line in attempt at humor, but Kyle groaned internally. It was exactly the kind of statement that always seemed to result in disaster.
The nearest hodag was less than a days’ travel, a journey the took slowly to give Arhades an opportunity to recover a little further. Finally, just as dusk was settling in, they came across its territory. The nearby pastures were entirely torn up, and the bones of various beasts were strewn about the ruined farmstead the creature called its home. As with some of the others, a trio of D Grades was also present, keeping a respectable distance from the C Grade.
“Are you ready?” Arhades whispered.
Kyle nodded. “Cut the tail, then run. I’ll handle it from here.”
“I will stay nearby to offer aid, should you need it,” Arhades said before disappearing in a streak of light.
Of course he will, Kyle thought. Before he could grumble further, pillars of light descended on the D Grade hodags, just as the rest of the sky seemed to dim. A moment later, a crescent wave of light descended, and Kyle heard a roar of pain as the ground began to shake. A figure shrouded in light rushed past, the panting figure of Arhades barely visible within the shroud of light.
“I was successful,” he wheezed, before continuing on, the lumbering form of the hodag in hot pursuit.
Ignition active, Kyle rushed at the creature, tendrils of Parasitic Resonance extending toward it. He also activated Repel, blasting the hodag in the face to draw its attention. The ploy seemed to work, as Kyle found himself pressured by a seemingly endless stream of attacks. Claws, fangs, and horns sought him, narrowly missing as he followed C.H.A.D.D.’s guidance. All the while, he allowed Parasitic Resonance to ramp up, building toward its crescendo.
Finally, Kyle had enough influence. With a surge of his Willpower, he snuffed out the hodag’s life, drawing its energy into himself as he did so. He felt the familiar power from gaining another level, though he knew that he wasn’t quite at 105 yet. With three hodags remaining, however, he felt confident in getting there. Even if he just helped Arhades fight the last three, the remaining distance to his capstone skill was close.
True to his word, Arhades waited a short distance away, hand resting on his sheathed blade as Kyle approached.
“I must say, Kyle, I am envious of your ability to disrupt its active skills. If the creature I fought didn’t have the roar attack, I would be in much better condition.”
“Don’t you think you have enough going for you?” Kyle joked. “The skill you used to cut its tail was incredible. You weren’t kidding when you said it would be overkill for any of your D Grade jobs.”
“My repertoire has grown nicely,” Arhades admitted. “However, I still lack many of the supportive and ancillary skills that somebody like you possesses. Unfortunately, it is a gap I am unlikely to bridge. At least, in C Grade.”
“Oh?” Kyle asked. He was about to ask more, when both of their nav bracelets lit up, an incoming call from Cletus appearing.
Kyle answered, and a projection of the goblin appeared.
“Boy howdy, that right there was one heck of an impressive feat. How in the heck did you manage to kill three of the C Grades at the same time?”
Arhades looked at Kyle, confused, before looking back at Cletus. “The three we just slew were killed over the span of a couple of days. Hardly the same time.”
Cletus just laughed at them for a moment, finally wiping his eyes. “That was a funny one, Mr. Swordsman. Again, I’m not sure how you did it, but unless you think two C Grades just up and died, you fellers had to do somethin’. Now y’all only got one left!”
Kyle met Arhades’ eyes, and his blood ran cold. Something out there is strong enough to kill two of these monsters.
From the velgian’s expression, he was thinking something similar. “We need to move. Now.”
Kyle nodded, following Arhades’ lead as they created some distance between them and the battlefield.
“Wait,” Cletus said. “You’re serious, ain’t ya? Well I’ll be darned. Let me see if I can get some scans or recordings of what happened over there, and I’ll send them your way.”
“Thank you, Cletus,” Kyle said, not slowing down to address the goblin.
“C.H.A.D.D., keep your scans running,” Kyle said. “Give an alert if you detect any presences closing into range.”
[WILL DO, DR. MAYHEW.]
“We should try to find a safe place to hide and rest,” Arhades offered. “Whatever killed those C Grades, it shouldn’t have come from off-planet. My seniors haven’t notified me of any disturbances.”
Kyle nodded his agreement. “Once we have enough distance between us and the last C Grade we killed we’ll find something. How are you holding up?”
At this point, Arhades was panting heavily a sheen of sweat on his paler than usual face. :He was using his boosting skill to escape, and Kyle knew that it was only a matter of time before his body would start giving up. Given how much strain his mana network had been under after fighting a C Grade alone, Kyle expected it would be sooner than later.
“I will be fine,” Arhades gasped. “I can keep going a while longer.”
Just as the velgian finished talking, their nav bracelets lit up. Cletus appeared, projected from Kyle’s nav. “You fellers need to run, and fast.”
“That’s what we’re doing, Cletus,” Kyle growled. “What happened?”
“It wasn’t just two of the C Grades that got killed, all three of the dad gum things are dead. I got some video footage, and one of the little varmints managed to evolve into a variant of some sort. Killed the C Grade, but the snapshots we took with the mana sensors just showed one so we didn’t think about it. Now it done killed the other two that were nearby, and it looks like it’s hunting.”
“This is insane!” Kyle complained. “C Grades shouldn’t just be popping up like this.”
Arhades grimaced, nearly losing his balance. “The situation is bizarre, to say the least. In any event, it’s a storm we are in the middle of. We just need to-“
Arhades’ words were cut off as the light around him dimmed, and he tripped, falling hard to the ground.
Kyle swore as he stopped, a tendril of Parasitic Resonance already connecting as he pushed a Healing Impetus through. Arhades struggled to his feet, a pained expression on his face.
“It appears as though I had less time than I expected. Apologies, Kyle, but I will need some time for my mana network to recover. I pushed too hard.”
“Cletus, do you have any idea how far away the hodag is?”
“Well, it don’t look like it’s movin’ exactly in y’all’s direction yet, but it is movin’ pretty quick. Of course, I reckon part of it is because it’s flying.”
With that, an image projected on their nav bracelets. Compared to the other hodags, this one was far leaner, standing on two stubby back legs while its forelegs were disproportionally long. The horns on its skull looked much more like a ram’s, and teeth still jutted out from its maw at all sorts of angles.
The biggest physical difference between this beast and the others, however, was its wings. Dark, misshapen wings jutted out from its back as it shambled past the recording device, snout in the air. What left the biggest impression on Kyle after the recording ended was the malevolent intelligence he saw behind its eyes. This wasn’t a mindless beast, like the other hodags had been. It was just a glimpse, but he could tell that this one was smarter, more dangerous. And it was hunting.