Chapter 45: Cat vs Chimera (Patreon)

Chapter 45: Cat vs Chimera

/Oh, the art of brewing. A sprinkle of sulfur and a dash of herbs, just a small bit of salt and then the ground paste of an eagle's liver. It is truly incredible how through boiling, distilling, condensing and reshaping those master alchemists can take seemingly random items and create miraculous medicine from it.

Healing potions, and poisonous pills, from steroids to panacea, they have you absolutely covered. There is nothing these people can't brew up, as long as they are good enough at what they do.

And trust me when I tell you one thing: Calling oneself an alchemist usually doesn't come easy. Most practicing alchemists actually need to get a license from the place they practice in. Of course, these rules are as inconsistent as can be, however, there is one reliable source of such things: The Druid's Sickle.

This organisation is one of the many guilds that one can join in these lands, albeit a lesser known one, perhaps to their unique choice of name. Yet, these are the ultimate experts in herbology and potioncrafting. Truly, their expertise is so thorough, that in just about any country, people with a license handed out by this guild are allowed to practice medicine, alchemy, and whatever else their license allows them to.

This is made possible through their long standing reputation of thoroughness. They don't make deals with charlatans and snake-oil salesman, and they immediately give the boot to any scammer or trickster within their ranks. These eloquent brewers or magnificent wonders take great pride in their work, and even greater pride in their organisation.

So, if you ever meet an alchemist of true pride, make sure to ask them to show their license. Most will happily oblige, and if they are quite hesitant about it, perhaps you should seek your stock from another place. No need to get yourself hurt by trusting someone who can't quite back up their claims, eh?/

An excerpt from "Of Pride and Profession", by Priscilla Boromier, the "Wordslinger", a scribe and adventurer.

- - - - - -

Evolve? Last time this had happened was... with his <Runecarving> Skill, right? Damn, that had been a while ago. Back then...

Oh, wait, he was still in a criminal's hideout. Now wasn't the time to be stuck in the past. Well, fine, what was this whole evolution deal all about?

[Evolution confirmed. Engaging. Please pick an option to evolve the Skill into. The price will be the same, no matter which you choose.]

[1. <Flame Within>

2. <Unbroken>

3. <Limitlessness>]

Whoaaaaaa, shit escalating really quick right here. Wasn't <Endeavour> just a Skill to help him channel his will into action? He certainly knew what it did, it helped him grit his teeth and push through, no matter how hard things got, but wasn't this a step too far?

Alright, alright. He wasn't too short on time, was he? His main target had been taken out, but still, he didn't want to take too many risks. After all, being ambushed down here could be very problematic.

"Cough!" He spat out a little more blood. Man, he really needed some rest, fuck. Alright, as long as he still had <Endeavour>, he sure would keep it on. This was the moment to really bite down hard and get shit done.

So, with his resolve steeled, Mercury once again coursed mana through his battered veins, making sure to keep himself functioning close to maximum capacity. He closed the door to storage by putting the chair under the handle, and made sure no one could come in from the other door by pushing the desk up against it with some effort.

If he compared himself to his previous life, he might actually be a little stronger by now, as long as he used magic, at least. It sure was a funny thought, armwrestling himself as a cat...

No, focus! Alright, bitches, time to roll.

<Appraisal>!

[<Flame Within>: An evolution of the <Endeavour> Skill, this one allows the individual to both literally and very figuratively harbour a flame within themselves. It allows the user to control these flames for whatever purpose they see fit, such as adding fire to their attacks, or cauterizing wounds on themselves. Additionally, the fire brings a great reinforcement to the user's willpower with itself, allowing them to remain a step past their limit by drawing energy from the flames.]

Wait, wasn't this a little broken? Literally controlling a fire within himself? Just like that? Holy shit dude, wow. Damn. Increased strength, will, and more power to step beyond his limits. Added to that was a potential for insane growth, probably allowing him to eventually create whole infernos. What a damn Skill.

[<Unbroken>: An evolution of the <Endeavour> Skill, this one allows the individual to maintain a strong will no matter the circumstances. It provides the user with potent defenses against mental attacks of all kind, and allows them to remain focused under great pressure. Additionally, it provides resistance to physical damage which scales alongside the user's Willpower.]

Okay, another insane Skill. Pretty much making himself invulnerable to mind control sure was appealing, and quite frankly, being able to shrug off swords and axes through pure determination sounded sick as fuck. This was going to be quite a choice, but there was still one more proposal in front of him.

[<Limitlessness>: An evolution of the <Endeavour> Skill, this one allows the user to see past their perceived limits. If one believes they can go no further, this Skill has a chance to open up another path towards growth. It also increases the efficacy of any Skills that the user believes to be past their "limits". Additionally it promotes future growth of the individual. However, this Skill does not mean there will no longer be obstacles. The system already allows for unlimited growth, this Skill only serves as an aide.]

A bit of a weird description, but quite frankly, it was still a difficult choice. All three Skills offered tempting prospects. Extra offense and defense with fire, an invulnerable mind and body, or the ability to go just one step further.

Mercury sighed to himself. Had he really already made a decision?

This was down to his gut, quite frankly, but after reading everything, the most appealing Skill to him was <Limitlessness>. It simply had that sweet allure he sought in everything he did. The sweet, sweet chance at growing just a little more, just taking another step forward, just overcoming one more obstacle.

He couldn't quite put it into words, but the thought of being stuck in place was... terrifying to him. To approach the end of his growth before he reached the goal of his story... No, he couldn't bear it.

It was clear, then. One more step it was.

[Evolution selected.]

[The individual has acquired the Skill <Limitlessness> through Skill evolution!]

There the deed was done. Now time to take down some more criminals. What a pain that his feet were so heavy, but whatever, a job needed doing.

Funnily enough, there was no banging on the doors that he had blocked. Apparently, no one was trying to get out this way. All the better for him, then. This way, he'd make for an unexpected combatant.

So, he opened the door, only to face a large, scarred back. Whoever it was that stood in front of Mercury, they were tall, tan, and had incredibly wide shoulders. For a moment, Mercury actually thought that he was facing something of an animal, rather than a human.

And when the thing turned around, Mercury thought he wasn't too wrong. He could read two words, branded into it's chest with fire. "The Guardian", it said. It had the chest of a man, but the legs of a horse, and the head of a falcon, locking onto him with its eyes. For a moment, Mercury thought he could see it's pupils narrow as it stared at him.

For a moment, time seemed to slow down. He thought for sure he could feel something of a pressure lay itself down on him, like a heavy blanket, or like shackles, clawing at his feet and dragging him to the floor. And then, there was this overwhelming feeling of dread... what was that...?

For a single moment, Mercury had his eyes rush about, trying to find the source of the dread, when he found it was very close to him. The guardian was apparently wielding a halberd with a spike even at the pommel, and that spike was very rapidly heading for Mercury's eyes.

Shit!

Without hesitation, Mercury's Skills exploded, flooding his body with any shred of mana he had, and pumping his muscles full of Stamina, much more than he probably should have. Then, he immediately activated breath, or at least tried to, because quite frankly, he found he couldn't.

He tried to get air into his lungs, but while he felt air rushing into his lungs, he couldn't quite get a grasp of it. While he had the ability documented by the system, it would appear he had yet to master it.

Fuck. This would have to do, he supposed.

And after only that moment, time resumed. The spiky pommel slammed down into the rock where Mercury had stood just moments before, but narrowly escaped from using <Dash>. Then, he lunged straight towards the guardian's face, trying to claw it up, only to be smacked back down to earth by the staff of the halberd.

His back smashed into the ground, and now that he had power coursing through him, he could feel his muscles scream and quiver. Fuck, this was a bitch to deal with. But even now, he couldn't see a gap in the defenses of the guardian.

It was frustrating. Mercury had won up until now by exploiting gaps in his opponents, specifically those created by them underestimating him, but this time, he couldn't find any. Turns out that the way to beat a smart beast, was by using another intelligent monster, huh?

Mercury quickly dodged out of the way of two more strikes, before trying to dash between the guardian's legs, and receiving a proper kick into the chest. For a moment, he felt the air leave his lungs and his vision go black, but his impact onto the floor brought him back, right in time to roll out of the way of the descending halberd's head.

Alright, shit, this surely wasn't where he was dying, right?

Without a moment's hesitation, Mercury turned around and dashed away as quickly as he could, just before the guardian could get another attack off. But since the one way he knew out of here was one he needed to climb, which would take him some time, he simply decided to hide underneath the desk.

Wouldn't it shatter from a single attack? Absolutely. But from behind it, Mercury was able to somewhat observe the guardian as it stepped fully into the room. It was a little low for the birdbrain, so it had to hunch over a bit, so it definitely would limit its range of movement with the halberd.

Good for Mercury. He really needed every single advantage he could get.

As soon as the guardian stepped foot into the room fully, Mercury began using true combat strategies. He still kept mana and stamina within himself, even if it stung like a bitch, since he most certainly needed that in case he wanted to dodge this thing.

Then, like any sane person would, he immediately conjured up his backpack of ammunition. Rocks aplenty.

For a moment, the guardian looked around, but it didn't take very long for it to find Mercury. Yet, before it could take a step towards him, there came a rock, heading straight for its face.

Only to quickly be snatched straight out of the air. Alright, this thing was bright enough to catch rocks, at the very least. But how many could it catch?

Mercury quickly started throwing a bunch of his collected projectiles at the face of birdhead over there, but they did little, if anything at all. Most of the rocks were caught, and the few it let impact on its body all bounced off its immaculate pecs.

Until one rock that didn't look too different hit it, and wormed its way straight through the surface layer of muscle. For a moment, the guardian looked confused, almost insulted, as it pulled the rock out from its flesh, halting its steps. Of course, Mercury wasn't one to miss a chance, and when the creature eyed the projectile, Mercury decided it was time to use a second one of his runed stones.

He managed to almost hit the same spot again, and this time, with some of the muscles already punctured, it went much deeper. Oh, wow, that was... a lot of blood.

"EEEEEKKKKKKKKK!!!!"

The creature let out an incredibly shrill scream at this, and for just a moment, Mercury's world started to tilt. He could see those little, colourful fireflies at the edge of his vision, and he knew that he was out of mana and stamina. Quite frankly, he knew he was at the very end of how far he could go, but yet, he refused to give up.

For one more moment, Mercury grit his teeth, and kicked the floor harshly enough to shake himself back awake. He would not let some fucking bird-looking asshole kill him in a stupid damp cave.

Even when the guardian stormed at him with rage and bloodshed in its eyes, Mercury stood there, simply grinding his teeth. After all, he still had a sliver of stamina left, and quite frankly, he was more than sure this would take down whatever the fuck this "guardian" was.

When rocks didn't do the trick anymore, he was fairly sure a grenade would prove reliable enough.

And so, with one final throw, Mercury emptied out another slot in his inventory, as a small vial filled with liquid soared through the air.

Our furry friend took this small second to hide behind the desk again. Although it was knocked over and in bad shape, it would have to do.

Then, he heard a loud crash, and a blinding flash of light, leaving him with a strong ringing in his ears.

"Ah, fuck," he muttered to himself, as he awaited the aftermath, only to look up and see bloodshot bird eyes staring down at him from a charred face.

"Oh, fuck."

As he saw it, Mercury immediately bought a health potion from the shop. Luckily, his Skill let him choose the packaging to some degree, so he simply had it appear in liquid form above him, dousing his body in some sweet, glorious healing juice worth a solid 500 gold.

And then, with some of his internal injuries feeling a smidge better, he simply jumped at bird bro.

No tricks. He had no more mana left, and he was all out of stamina, other than what he needed to walk and maybe squeeze out a jump. Still, it would have to do.

With his newly sharpened claws, he dug into the bloodshot eyes of the abomination that was still reaching out to grab him. He quickly climbed onto its back, and used gravity to slide it down, while digging his claws into the thing's charred hide, leaving long, dep gashes.

Then, he ran around its legs, and jumped at thee nearest knee, clawing and biting with all he had, until he stopped just a little after he heard it.

[You have killed The Guardian. Get: 2500 Exp, 320 Gold, Falcon's Feather.]

[Level Up!]

Well, this feather better make up for this fucking ordeal. Actually, scratch that. The level up had refilled his stamina enough, and quite frankly, Mercury thought he could count this as a done job.

He spat out some more blood, as he began packing up, getting his special and ordinary rocks back in order, before beginning the trek home. If the guild wanted to know if he had done his job, the fuckers could damn well wait until tomorrow.

- - - - - -

Avery personally made sure to check every location where combat had happened, especially when no one came in. When he heard that his new fuzzy friend hadn't come back, of course he didn't hesitate to rush off to the scene of the crime, but what he found was... surprising.

Two human corpses, one of an old lady, who seemed to carry enough weapons to take down a multitude of people, and one of a middle aged marksman, the crossbow just next to his hand. Additionally, a lot of charred and burnt furniture, a full stockpile of all manner of drugs and questionable substances, and finally a third corpse.

Chimera, probably. Beastkin weren't too common in these parts, and usually they would only carry traits from one type of animal, not multiple. So, Avery concluded that this must have been a chimera, no two ways about it.

Notoriously tough, and usually decently bright, these things rarely struggled with confidence or arrogance. They made incredible guards, as they never questioned orders by those they saw as superior, and they could oftentimes be whipped into shape as their instinctual fear would stop them fighting back.

Avery grimaced at the thought of one of those. Damn things were tough as nails, and he always felt bad for them too. But the most surprising part about the corpse were all the biting and scratch marks. Well, with this, one thing was for certain in his mind.

This mopaaw certainly wasn't someone he needed to babysit.

Funnily enough, it didn't take too long after this for Iris and Lucia to make a similar discovery as they stopped by to check up on things, certainly more due to Iris asking for it, but out of the three, none of them would spread the rumor.

After all, Mercury was still just a mopaaw, and telling people of this certainly would only get him unwanted attention.

Just like that, the story of our little fuzzy hero defeating a chimera all on his own would be one long buried in the history books. Perhaps one day it would be unearthed by an eager historian, but for now, that day was far away.

For now, Mercury was going to fucking bed.