Chapter 507
Chapter 507
The first problem Jake encountered was getting the Saurian Prowler to Dead City. He himself could teleport there any time he wanted. All he would need to do was instruct one of the wyrmcallers patrolling Dead City to open its riftmaw, and after that, he would only need to use the Fleshport in the Apex Hollow to teleport to Dead City, emerging from the winged creature’s riftmaw.
However, it was not possible for the Kaiju to do the same. The reason for that was the creature’s sheer size. While a Transfer Maw was large enough to admit a large creature like a crawler or a wingclaw, it was way too small for the Kaiju. Sure, the Fleshport was somewhat larger compared to a Transfer Maw, but even it couldn’t accommodate the saurian beast.
Besides, even if he tried to merge several Transfer Maws together to create a Kaiju-sized portal, the exit point needed to be just as large as the entry one. But other than the wyrmcallers, Jake had no other portals in Dead City. So simply teleporting the Saurian Prowler there wasn’t possible. Instead, the Kaiju would have to get to the Dead City on foot. There was simply no other way for the creature to get there.
But that was where another problem came into play. Even simply getting the Saurian Prowler out of the Apex Hollow was easier said than done. While the main cavern of his lair was enormous, none of the tunnels that branched off from it were large enough to let his Kaiju use them. That was the problem he needed to fix.
He chose one of the tunnels that ran directly to the chasm and mentally instructed the beast to widen it. He then watched as his Kaiju hammered its huge fists against the wall, crumbling it and flaking the rock away. Bit by bit, the entrance to the tunnel grew wider.
Still, the process was far too slow. It could take hours for the Kaiju to get the job done. Jake knew he had to accelerate the process somehow. So from his inventory, he retrieved a gemstone that could infuse his attacks with explosive elemental damage. After that, he entered the tunnel and set about pounding his smashfists against the walls.
Every strike he delivered triggered a small explosion, blasting large chunks out of the rock. Still, he could see that even between him and his Kaiju, it would take a while to expand the width of the tunnel all the way to the bottom of the chasm. He needed to find a way to speed the process even more.
That was when an idea came to his mind. Could his Kaiju absorb a gemstone to deal explosive damage the way he could? He’d never attempted to give an ability to deal elemental damage to any of his creatures before, so he didn’t know whether it would work or not. So it was definitely worth a try.
He instructed the Saurian Prowler to drop on all fours. When it did so, he had it turn one of its clawed hands palm-up. He then retrieved another gemstone with explosive properties and tossed it into the Kaiju’s palm. When it landed there, he instructed the creature to absorb the gem.
Nothing happened. The gem continued to lie on the creature’s palm. Compared to the Kaiju’s huge hand, it looked like a grain of sand. Since he hadn’t been sure if it worked or not, he was ready for failure. Still, since he’d hoped it would work, he couldn’t help but feel a pang of disappointment.
He leaped onto the creature’s palm, retrieved the gem, and jumped back to the floor. He instructed the Saurian Prowler to stand on its hind feet again. When it did so, he just looked up at the enormous beast for a second. Another idea came to his mind. This one felt like cheating, and therefore, he was sure it wouldn’t work.
For a moment, he contemplated whether there was even a point in testing this new idea at all. In the end, he decided to try it anyway, as it wouldn’t take much time to see if it worked or not. He climbed atop one of the creature’s huge feet and attempted to employ Symbiotic Merge. This ability allowed him to merge with any of his creatures to take full control over them.
So far, he had only used this ability on wyrmcallers. Sure enough, it was the very first time he attempted to use it on the Kaiju, but he believed there was no reason for it not to work on the Saurian Prowler. To his surprise, nothing happened. He even stepped to the creature’s ankle and pressed his body against it to facilitate the merging process. Still, Symbiotic Merge failed to activate.
It was odd. He was sure he should be able to merge with the Kaiju as easily as he could with any other of his creatures. He couldn’t think of a single reason the system prohibited him from becoming one with the Kaiju.
He gave the matter some thought. Perhaps he just needed to choose a particular spot on the Saurian Prowler’s body to be able to merge with it? He remembered that when merging with a wyrmcaller, he climbed on its back, clinging tightly to it before attempting to merge with it.
He decided to climb all the way to the Kaiju’s head and try to merge with the saurian beast one more time. If Symbiotic Merge failed to activate even after that, he would have to assume he was simply not allowed to become one with the Kaiju.
The Saurian Prowler stood as still as a statue as Jake crawled up its body. He quickly ascended its leg, then the side of its body, and soon reached its shoulder. He then proceeded to crawl up its neck, and a few moments later, he finally reached the crown of its head. The ceiling was just above him now. If he attempted to stand on his feet, he wouldn’t be able to do so without bumping his head against the rock above.
He didn’t need to stand up, though. He remained flattened against the top of the creature’s head as he crawled to its very center. Once there, he attempted to activate the ability once more.
This time, Symbiotic Merge actually worked, which meant that to merge with a creature, he needed to be very close to its head. Or to be right atop its head if a creature was as huge as his Kaiju. He hadn’t been aware of this fact before. While he had been the Corruptor for some time now, he still learned new things.
Anyway, it took just about a second for him to merge with the Kaiju’s flesh. Once he became one with the Saurian Prowler, he could see through its eyes. Now that he perceived the world from the Kaiju’s perspective, everything in his lair looked so ridiculously small.
When merged with a creature, Jake couldn’t use his own abilities. Instead, he could only employ those possessed by the creature he controlled. However, he could still take things from his inventory, as he learned a second later when he attempted to retrieve a gem. It dropped into his palm, and he immediately attempted to absorb it.
When he instructed the Kaiju to absorb a gem before, nothing had happened, so Jake was ready for the possibility that the same thing would occur again. But he was pleasantly surprised when the gem actually merged with the Kaiju’s flesh, sinking into the middle of the creature’s palm.
So it looked like he found a way to cheat the system. Which was amazing. Or maybe it really wasn’t considered cheating. Perhaps he simply was allowed to absorb magical gems just like he was allowed to retrieve things from his inventory when he controlled a creature.
Anyway, it was time to resume working on widening the tunnel. He didn’t need it to be as tall as the Saurian Prowler, so he dropped on all fours instead. He then raised one clawed hand, balled it into a tight fist, and banged it against the wall just above the entrance of the tunnel. The moment his fist impacted the wall, an explosion erupted, carving a sizable dent in the rock.
However, the resultant explosion and the indentation it had created weren’t all that satisfying. The explosion was pretty much the same as those that erupted when Jake pounded the rock in his usual form. It was disappointing. But that made Jake pause as another thought crossed his mind.
He himself was allowed to absorb only one gem for his offensive capabilities and another to improve a resistance. The effects of the gems didn’t stack. He couldn’t absorb two gems of the same type to increase his elemental damage or resistance multiple times. If he tried to absorb a gem of a different type while the effect of the previously absorbed gem was still active, the new effect simply replaced the old one.
But being the Kaiju now, perhaps he could absorb several gems of the same type at the same time, multiplying their effects. Again, he wasn’t sure if this was going to work or not, but he was willing to give it a shot. With a thought, he retrieved all the remaining gems with explosive properties from his inventory. He had just a handful of them left. He was definitely going to have to stock up on magical gems later.
He then attempted to absorb the gems and was pleasantly surprised when every single one of them merged with his flesh. Again, he didn’t know if he’d found a way to cheat the system or if he’d simply been allowed to do it. Perhaps, the larger his form was, the more gems of the same type he could absorb.
Then a more sobering thought occurred to him. Perhaps the effects of the gems he had just absorbed hadn’t stacked. If that was the case, it would mean he had just wasted the last of his explosive gems for nothing.
He drew his fist back and slammed it into the wall just over the edge of the tunnel entrance.
The resultant explosion was several times more powerful than the previous one, sending shards of blasted rock shooting through the air. So he hadn’t wasted the gems after all. Encouraged by his success, he set about pounding the wall with his fists, eager to make the tunnel wide enough for him to crawl through.