Chapter 36: Captive (13) (Patreon)

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I deliberated long and hard after reaching level 20. Whether to take the Inmyun Ho’s Core as I had planned or to take the Core that belonged to a named variant. In the end, the fact that the Shadow Mimic Wolf’s core was not only a boss-class but belonged to a Named Variant won out. I still wasn’t sure how [Sadistic Mimicry] and [Gloomy Disposition] would have changed but now was the best time to find out.

A named boss-class monster from grade-7 could rival a grade-5… or even above.

[Sadistic Mimicry] copied a random skill, ability or spell from any target I wounded and the term ‘wounded’ was very broad in MSS.

As soon as I copied [Leap] from the berserker, I realized that this Core might not be so good after all. All it did was drop the name of the skill I had just copied from my opponent. No mental instructions on how to use it or even what the skill did.

Except I was a [Player] and I knew pretty much every single thing there was to know about this game.

I stopped in my tracks and bent low to the ground in a squat, feeling my hamstring stretch and quads constrict. At the same time, I felt mana from my heart pump into my legs the same way it did for my arms when I was using my sword. As soon as I released all the pent up energy and mana, I shot towards the witch doctor like a rocket.

I saw him wave his gnarled staff and send out a wave of purplish smoke. But I had already received two stacks of [Speed] buffs, I easily landed and jumped above them, landing beside the witch doctor.

“Foolish human.” His teeth as well as his pierced tongue were blackened and decayed.

Without preamble he took a big gulp of air and breathed into the space between us, filling it with black smog. Even with my speed, it was almost impossible to prevent it from touching. The tips of my fingers started to tingle and a numbness began to spread up my arm.

“Shit. [Decay Breath].” I recognized the spell, it applied a slow status and tick damage over time.

Since [Slow] was a status ailment, my [Arcane Masochism] wouldn’t activate. But with the Shadow Mimic Wolf’s Core, I could do something about the tick damage. Instead of getting out of the way completely, I ducked underneath the smoke and took cover under its shadow.

[Gloomy Disposition] should cancel all magic damage as long as I was covered in shadow, in exchange for a massive debuff to my [Defense] stat. Sure enough, the tingling sensation stopped but the numbness was all over my body.

｢[All Mages must Die!] lowers [Defense]｣

｢[Arcane Masochism] cancels [All Mages must Die!｣

｢[Arcane Masochism] raises [Attack]｣

｢You have been hit by a Magic Attack!｣

｢[All Mages must Die!]: +1 Stack of [Shadow Blink] ｣

I felt Arcane Masochism counteract the Gloomy Disposition debuff, turning it into an attack buff.

The witch doctor hadn’t expected me to duck into the smoke and hadn’t bothered to gather distance. I quickly crossed the space between us with long strides and aimed a thrust right at his forehead, hoping to end the battle here. While I’d love to prolong the battle and test out the various Core abilities of the Shadow Mimic Wolf, now wasn’t the time.

As luck would have it, the Witch Doctor slipped and my thrust only left a long gash over his forehead. He shrieked in both fear and anger, waving his staff wildly. He began to shoot purple mana bolts all over the cavern, most of them aimed in my general direction. He was shooting them too wildly for me to dodge so I ducked underneath the shadow of the rapidly fading Decay Breath. Gloomy Disposition activated each time a stray bolt hit me, but they dissipated upon hitting my armor or skin.

Shadow Mimic Wolf had a nickname on the forums: Mage Killer. It could close distances with [Shadow Blink], mimic spells or abilities with [Sadistic Mimicry] and then shrug off magic damage with [Gloomy Disposition]. Now with my [Gloomy Disposition] and [Arcane Masochism], I was practically the same. The only thing I had to watch out for were spell ailments.

｢[Sadistic Kleptomania] has stolen [Squishy Skin]｣

I grinned as the name of a spell popped up in my mind and at the same time, the Witch Doctor began screaming.

“My voodo! You stole my voodoo! Where is it?! I can’t use it!” He wiped at his eyes and then looked at me, half crazed. “You… how?!...”

I didn’t have any idea what he was talking about but wasn’t going to pass over an opening when I saw one. I threw my shield like a frisbee towards the Witch Doctor and heard it clang off of his forehead, a direct hit. I would have loved to cast [Squishy Skin] but knew that Spell Activation worked differently than Core abilities, I’d have to ask Kyrian how to use spells later. Jumping towards the Witcher Doctor, I stabbed him in the chest right where his heart should be.

“My… voodoo…” He clawed at me, taking his last breath.

Shoving him off of me, I turned to the battle that Kyrian and Skaris were engaged in.

Skaris was a living whirlwind of red flame. Every wound he inflicted on the berserkers were lit aflame, slowly burning the berserkers alive. In addition, Kyrian’s lightning spells flashed, illuminating the air for a fraction of a second before submerging it in darkness again. From what I could see, the curse that Kyrian had cast at the beginning of the fight had worn off meaning 60 seconds had passed.

Arcane Masochism’s buff would last until the end of battle but I could use Coin Toss again.

｢Lock Slaveborn casts [Coin Toss] ｣

…

｢[Arcane Masochism] raises [Speed]｣

I picked up my fallen shield and sped towards the battle.

The Berserkers were using [Leap] with extreme prejudice, ignoring Skaris and trying to get at Kyrian. But the 7-foot tall reptilian beast-man had incredible reach even without usual spear. Everytime they landed near the mage, Skaris was there and driving them back with a furious onslaught of stabs and thrusts. All three orc warriors were being held back, unable to find an opening between Skaris and Kyrian’s llightning spells. But at the same time, they were too fast for Skaris and Kyrian to land a decisive attack.

I managed to sneak up behind one of them and stabbed him through the chest.

The berserker roared in fury and spun, his elbow almost crushing my temple. But I had experienced the orc’s vitality before and they hadn’t even been berserkers; my shield was there to block the blow. The orc’s backspin elbow slammed into my shield and I heard the metal surface crumple like aluminum foil, the recoil almost knocking me off balance. Then the orc used an ability where his body glowed with blue light.

Shit.

“Kyrian! Fire at him! Now!” I backpedaled as fast as I could from the orc.

This orc was using [Luminescent Movement].

Kyrian fired off more lightning but it was too late.

He leaped into the air and with each movement, his body started to fire lasers in random directions.

“Why the fuck does a low-ranking berserker have a grade-6 Core?!” I ducked behind my shield and saw the other two berserkers running for cover.

[Luminescent Movement] turned you into a living disco ball that shot off lasers in every direction. The perfect Core Ability to kill everyone on the field, even if they were your allies. Teamkill notwithstanding, for the orcs who were now on the backfoot, this was the best thing they could’ve done short of running away.

I saw Kyrian dodge behind the stalagmites but Skaris just narrowed his eyes and stood his ground.

Then he began to deflect the lasers with the javelins in each arm with superhuman precision.

Holy shit.

And I taunted him before, saying he was weaker than L’teya.

It was like watching one of those virtual reality games where you had to hit the bars with a stick. However, the bars were lasers moving at the speed of a hawk in flight and they came from every direction. Skaris danced with deadly rhythm, caught in the space between life and death. I realized that Skaris was keeping the orc busy, trying to keep him from approaching Kyrian.

I watched in awe.

I was obviously outmatched in terms of skill and the best thing to do would be to wait out the [Luminescent Movement], waiting for it to go on cooldown. But the orc landed near Skaris and began to tear into him with his Halberd, each swing sending more lasers firing out from his body. As much as I wanted to stay here, safe and hidden, I couldn’t let Skaris do this alone.

I got up with my shield, ready to run towards them.

“SSLAVEBORN! THE OTHERSSS!”

There was a brief moment of hesitation as my brain tried to comprehend what Skaris was telling me to do. Was he telling me to leave the orc to him and eliminate the other two?

He better not fucking die and waste the Inmyun Ho Core I fed to him.

I changed direction, using my shield as cover but none of the lasers even came close. They flew towards the ceiling or left smoking snake-sized holes in the earth far from where I was. Seeing the two orcs start to creep up towards Kyrian who was being cornered by the stray lasers, I ran towards them.

One of the berserkers noticed me and broke off, creating three separate 1v1 situations. For us, this was the situation we wanted to avoid the most. In a 3v3, we would have the advantage especially with a mage on our side. This was why I had been so adamant about killing the Witch Doctor, to turn the tides in our favor. But with that one berserker using [Luminescent Movement], everything had shifted in their favor.

I engaged the berserker holding his claymore and dodged his claymore strike.

It was a good thing I did, because it glowed a rainbow color and then slammed into the ground like a meteor.

Another core ability, [Heavy Strike]. The heavier your overall weapon, the more damage it did. One of the best starting abilities you could use for a heavy weapon user like him. When he heaved his weapon out of the ground, I saw it dripping with venom and took back my initial assessment. He likely had a venom-inducing Core ability like L’teya, most likely the same one.

A venom-inducing ability in combination with GRavityStrike? Now there was a trash build if I ever saw one.

As devastating as [Heavy Strike] was, there was nothing to fear if it never landed. I stayed just out of range, trying to bait out his meteor strike or a strike with a particularly large wind-up. He acted exactly how I wanted, raising his claymore overhead and trying to cleave me in two. Quicker than I thought possible, I slipped in inside his guard and slashed his stomach, running right past him without stopping.

I heard the aftereffects of Heavy Strike, landing on the ground and pivoted hard on my heel, stabbing him in the back. The Tiger Berserkers weren’t known for their defense, but I had to step on the ground harder than usual to get more than a few inches of my blade into their skin. That was the stat disparity between those that had unlocked their racial traits and those who hadn’t.

“Fuck.”

I almost had my head separated into two pieces by his retaliatory strike, a spinning slash using his whole body as a pivot. But I knew that after the move, he’d take a second or two to orient himself. I closed the distance, ducking underneath the blade and stabbed him in the ribs, trying to angle my blade upwards into his heart.

To my surprise he let go of his Claymore and grabbed my arm with both his meaty hands.

His eyes bore into mine with near bestial fury. “Got you now, human.”

Mana swelled from deep within my stomach and poured out in an invisible stream, pouring into the orc.

His wounds all doubled in size, the cuts widening and growing deeper. Blood spurted from the wounds as my Hateful Wound ability literally ripped open his wounds from the inside out. He released my hands with a cry of pain and I backstepped more gracefully than ever, swinging my sword like a rapier and leaving swelling lines of blood on his chest. Just in time, I used Coin Toss and felt it get canceled out by Arcane Masochism. Then I felt my blood begin to pump even faster than now; the telltale sign of an attack buff.

The longerI stayed in battle, the stronger I got.

I kicked the ground, jumping towards the berserker who was scrambling to pick up his Claymore. I heard lightning and saw its after-flash, followed by another one. Kyrian must have found a safe place to start casting his spells again. But the flashes of lightning had been deceptive, I heard the mage’s voice cry out in pain a second later.

Instead of finishing off the claymore-berserker, I stabbed him in the back of his knee hoping that it would cripple him. Then I made a beeline towards the direction of Kyrian’s voice. Simultaneously I felt the spell Squishy Skin disappear from my mind, like someone took a paintbrush and grayed it out. Then it was replaced by a different ability.

｢[Sadistic Kleptomania] has stolen [Heavy Strike]｣

It seemed that anything I stole would have a timer on it and if I didn’t use it in time, it would simply disappear. For me thouhg, Heavy Strike was something I could definitely use unlike the unfamiliar spell, Squishy Skin.

I ran by Skaris who was still dueling the luminescent orc, his ability starting to run out. There were less and less lasers flying about and more of Skaris’ strikes were finding their mark, stabbing through the berserker’s armor. As evidence, the orc was covered in burn wounds, some parts of his body sloughing off from the ensuing heat. The smell was terrible, acrid and sharp.

The deadly dance between them had reached a lethal crescendo and even if I wanted to, there was no room for anyone else. Hastily stepping in between the two could put the Skaris in danger. I couldn’t allow his focus to waver now.

I found Kyrian cornered by the orc I had first encountered, the one wielding a greataxe. My Hateful Wound had reached all the way here. The minor stab wound from before was now an open cut, separating the top part of his ribs and lower stomach. Still the orc didn’t show any signs of slowing, the passive effects of his tiger totem fueling his vitality and speed. He rushed towards Kyrian dodging between the lightning spells.

Kyrian raised his staff and a tornado of sand formed between the two, albeit small. The berserker cleaved it in two by firing off a greenish colored slash of wind. But the tornado had done its job, it bought enough time for me to leap into the air and land on him while using Heavy Strike. I had leaped from behind him and caught him completely unawares.

My sword slashed through his shoulder joint, leaving the berserker with only one arm.

“GRAHHH.”

His screams echoed through the cavern right up until the moment I spun in place and parted his head from the rest of his body.

“Kyrian!”

The mage was bleeding from a huge gash on his stomach and I saw gray ropey things poking out. Fighting the urge to throw up I took a step towards him but the mage stopped me.

“Behind!” He held his intestines in place and fell on his butt. Yelling something required core and his stomach had been split open, I couldn’t count on him anymore.

I turned to see the tip of a claymore inches from my stomach and had a vision of me trying to shove my intestines back in. Stepping back, I brought my shield to meet the edge but underestimated the orc’s strength and the weight of his claymore. The berserker used another instance of Heavy Strike and the shield was split into top and bottom, along with a few of my fingers.

“Lock!” Kyrian really needed to stop yelling and making his wounds worse.

I ignored the amputated fingers, I had been through worse only a day ago when Arrosh resorted to torture to keep me awake. My body being full of adrenaline helped. Sidestepping his next strike, I stabbed him in the stomach right as he lifted the claymore, wrenching it free and trying to widen the wound as much as possible. The berserker didn’t even grunt, he was too caught up in battle for that.

I felt the air get knocked out of me as he kneed me in the stomach and heard his claymore clang against the earth; this berserker had thrown his weapon away again.

“What kind of berserker throws his weapon away so much?”

He brought kneed me in the stomach and I doubled over, feeling his arms wrap around my neck in a chokehold. I stabbed him in the ribs again and again, but felt his body tense.

I saw stars within seconds.

I’m ashamed to say I panicked.

I was continuing to stab him, but it was no use. My arm was starting to go limp and my blade wasn’t even penetrating his body anymore, just flailing helplessly. I was pretty sure Kyrian was passed out behind me and even if he were awake, there wasn’t much he could do to help. Same could be said for Skaris.

More stars.

I saw shadows start to creep in at the edge of my vision and I felt like I was looking through a narrowing scope. The darkness continued to swallow more of my vision.

I couldn’t breathe.

I tried to use Hateful Wound but it was on cooldown.

Maybe a [Lucky Strike[ or [Jackpot]?

Nothing I had could get me out of this.

The hole was getting smaller, I could barely see the ground anymore.

In pure desperation I pulsed mana into my body. The orc responded in kind, strengthening his own limbs.

A moment ago, I had copied Leap when stabbing him in the stomach. I tried to use it, bending my legs and bringing my weight back under my control. But the orc didn't let me, he pushed down harder.

I couldn’t see anything anymore.

I sank into black.