[System Decay] Chapter 14: Ambush the Ambushers (Patreon)

In order to descend the levels, Caiyeri and Will were going to have to find one of a limited set of staircases. They didn’t show up on the minimaps at long range, but the elf had an old map that guided them.

They headed south, which, thanks to the interrogated goblin’s loose lips under pressure, had a group of cave goblins with the Arcane Archer class ready to rain fire down upon a small ravine.

This would have been a major problem if not for the fact that there was a narrow passage located about thirty feet up that, after some crushingly tight twists and turns that made Will think he might be claustrophobic, led them to a thin ledge about a dozen feet above the wider path the goblins had teleported to.

Not for the first time, Will thanked himself for looting a bunch of the teleport daggers.

“Five of them,” Caiyeri whispered. “Do you think you can handle two? I can take three for sure if it’s an ambush.”

“Watch me,” he replied, activating the skill he’d awakened from the tablet of the delver.

Will mentally selected the closest goblin to him. They all looked the same, all five of them with their magical bows drawn aiming down at the entrance to the ravine they would have come through if they hadn’t been prepared through the wonders of torture, so he designated them with numbers.

His target was Two.

Unbeknownst to Two, it became surrounded by a dark red energy in Will’s eyes. The rest of the world dimmed as he took in sight of his prey.

Skill: [Mark for Death]

- Spell (affliction).

- Cost: moderate mana.

- Cooldown: 1 hour.

Unformed

“Today, you will learn the meaning of perfect hatred.” - Dread Executor Nicoli IV, cycle 1037.

Target any creature you can see or sense and mark them for death. During the next hour, the effectiveness of attacks and afflictions against the creature are increased, and you can track the creature through your minimap and through walls. This skill’s cooldown resets if the targeted creature dies.

They were spread out enough that a lucky explosive shot from the revolver was unlikely to kill more than one. Stealth was the name of the game here.

And fortunately, there was a vent right behind Two.

Will drank an unformed mana potion, replenishing what he’d just used. “Ready?”

Caeyeri nodded.

Will activated the iron dagger of the sunken world and silently lurched into the space right behind Two.

Teleportation wasn’t silent, and the goblins realized something was wrong almost immediately, but the split second of surprise was all he needed.

He plunged the dagger into its neck.

[First Blood] doubled the power of your attack.

[Mark for Death] increased the power of your attack.

Critical hit!

The goblin’s head tumbled to the ground, blood spilling forth in spurts from the neck.

[Mark for Death]’s cooldown has been reset.

Caiyeri struck at the same time, though she stuck behind at the elevated ledge. Her attack method of choice was a thin white beam of mana. She fired twice in quick succession, both landing on the back of a goblin’s head. These ones wore helmets, so she had more to get through, but her magic proved its effectiveness.

The first beam was forceful enough to knock a goblin down, while the second—which Will assumed she rigged to be a critical hit—sliced straight through steel like it was butter, carving a hole straight through its head.

Will marked the fallen one for death, inventoried his dagger, and approached it with a wild, powerful swing from his axe.

The grueling hours of training he’d been putting in proved their worth. His abilities assisted, but his raw strength alone was enough to get the light axe to crumple armor in like a tin can.

[First Blood] doubled the power of your attack.

[Mark for Death] increased the power of your attack.

[Chieftain’s Axe of Despair] inflicted a level of [Bleed]!

[Chieftain’s Axe of Despair] inflicted a level of [Corruption]!

Judging by the gurgled, harsh sound that came out of its throat, it was not a good way to die.

[Mark for Death]’s cooldown has reset.

In just moments, he and Caiyeri had killed three of their five would-be ambushers.

Will had an inkling that a morally concerned man should have reconsidered his actions, but that was strongly overpowered by the part that recognized reality.

After the advent of the system, the laws of man and morality were gone. For now, the only law that mattered was the one of the jungle.

The strong survive, and I’m going to be strong.

Both surviving goblins turned towards Will, though one stopped halfway as he realized that Caiyeri was waiting in the dim shadows above.

He marked the closer one as it loosed its arrow with startling speed.

Right. These guys are still faster than me. Good to keep in mind.

Will hit the deck hard, but arrows were fast. Searing hot pain above his shoulder followed by wet, warm blood spilling onto his neck informed him that no, his dodge wasn’t perfect.

Weapons Free gave him enough mobility to avoid being fully run through by the attack, thankfully.

You have been afflicted with one level of [Poisoned].

Condition: [Poisoned]

- Lowers the [Speed] and [Resistance] attributes by 2 stages for each level of [Poisoned]. This cannot lower them to another rank.

- Deals ongoing poison damage.

- Lowers the target’s ability to attack.

You have been afflicted with one level of [Bleed].

Condition: [Bleed]

- Lowers the [Power] attribute by 3 stages for each level of [Bleed]. This cannot lower it to another rank.

- Deals ongoing slashing damage. Increases vulnerability to slashing attacks.

- The effectiveness of magical healing is reduced for each level of [Bleed].

The second goblin fired a second later, apparently deciding that Will was the more immediate thought. Once again, Will managed to get away with a glancing blow.

You have been afflicted with two levels of [Poisoned].

You have been afflicted with two levels of [Bleed].

Will’s status diagram showed the affected parts of his body going from a healthy green to a piss yellow, then straight to red. He winced in pain, but he’d grown used to the sensation. Compared to the excruciating sensation of corruption and the poison training, this was manageable.

It wasn’t going to be manageable once the goblins figured out his stats had just been lowered far enough that he was unlikely to be able to finish them off with his axe, but that was fine.

Will hadn’t been wrong to prepare carefully. Even if these goblins didn’t physically present a threat, they were a rank higher than him. He could almost physically feel the sheer difference between their respective power levels.

The two archers both drew another arrow.

“I’m glad I had that mana potion.”

Will activated his second skill, the one he’d awoken with Caiyeri’s epic-rarity tablet.

Skill: [Ghostflame]

- Spell (enchantment).

- Cost: extreme mana.

- Cooldown: none.

Unformed.

“Death comes for you all. Your pitiful defenses cannot even conceive of stalling it.” - Dread Executor Nicoli IV, cycle 377.

Draws from your blood, afflictions, and lifeforce alongside your mana. Cleanses all afflictions from you and all creatures living or dead in a 10 foot radius. Wreathe your fists in ghostflame. Inflict true damage and necrotic damage upon any enemies you strike.

The world went monochrome except for the raging, hateful red marker outlining his quarry. Will felt every last drop of mana seep out of him, and he saw blood burst from his vessels and dissipate, consumed by the spell.

Sickening dark poison and Bleed-affected blood joined it, all of his mana and blood coagulating in a rough haze around his fists.

You have been cleansed of all afflictions.

The spell took hold, and Will’s hands burst into black flame. It consumed light rather than produce it, giving him an eerie presence.

It may have cost him a fragment of his life, but Ghostflame did not hamper his ability to kill.

Will took a running leap forward and socked the marked goblin in the face. Bone crunched under his fist, then burned black. The goblin didn’t even have time to scream.

[Mark for Death] increased the power of your attack.

His vision lightened a touch as the mark faded, but the world still appeared dull and colorless to him. Will turned towards the last goblin. The mana boost he’d gained from the powers of his Death attribute was more than enough for him to mark it for death too.

It nocked the arrow with shaking hands, but a well-placed dagger from Caiyeri planted itself straight into the goblin’s wrist.

The last surviving goblin howled in pain and fear, and some primeval part of Will’s brain whispered, more.

His fist met steel and stopped. The ghostflame wreathing it did not.

True damage, he’d learned from Helper, meant damage that could overcome rank barriers, resistances, and protection. It was the single rarest damage type any skill could deal.

As the last goblin died, Will could see why.

He was powerful. Even at unformed rank, this spell gave him the strength to carve his own path. To break through anything in his way. This was the freedom he’d been looking for.

No—it was a step. He’d made it onto the path, but he still had a long way to go. He refused to let himself stagnate.

Will let the Ghostflame simmer away. Every moment he kept it up was more of his life force drained. As it was, his mana was entirely depleted, and his body felt drained, though not in a bad way. Instead, it was more like he’d just finished a long workout session and his muscles were sore. Will got the impression that it would get substantially worse if he overdrew.

Slowly, the world returned to its normal color.

“Not bad, human,” Caiyeri said. “Slightly terrifying, I’ll give you that.”

Helper: You may have noticed why the [Death] attribute is banned in 99.5% of system cycles.

Will let himself relish in the sensation for a few moments more before returning to Earth.

“I don’t suppose this cycle’s going to end up being one of the 0.5%?”

Helper: That depends on if you think your race can trust a group of people with powers unknown.

“Oh, so that’s a no.”

Helper: Also, [Corruption] is also a banned attribute. Always.

“The system gave it to me,” Will argued.

Helper: It is not the system that will forbid it, but your people.

Will looked suspiciously at Caiyeri.

She shrugged. “Helper’s right. Elves in our nation are persecuted because of our pursuit of chaos.”

“Your nation? Not your world?”

“Did you think our entire species was a single culture? Mother, I wish.”

Will kind of wanted to inquire into that, but understanding the geopolitical status of the world that had collided with his could come after he figured out how to make it back to said world. As far as he knew, he was somewhere in space right now, buried in the warped space of an asteroid-turned-cave-system-turned-tutorial.

“You were able to hide your elements from me,” he said. “How do I do that?”

Helper: Element restriction requires an understanding of the aura you exude, which is not possible until bronze rank. Right now, you’re in the sour spot. You have too much mana to avoid detection, but not enough to perceive it and manipulate it yourself.

“Aura? You’ve mentioned that once or twice, I think. What exactly is that?”

Helper: To make a long explanation short and imperfect, it is the manifestation of your mana upon the world.

“I’ll show you once we get to another safe zone or the elf shelter,” Caiyeri said. “How far are we from the next one, by the by?”

“About half a mile,” Will said. “It’s off the straightest path to the stairwell, though, and I bet you the goblins are staking out anything that even remotely looks like a safe zone.”

Helper: That’s a good point. You should assume that entering them is not possible at this time.

“Won’t they be guarding the stairwell?” Will asked. “Can’t they chase us down it?”

Helper: It’s a tutorial. You can treat the stairwells as safe zones. During the tutorial period only bosses can use them, and they can’t fight you inside.

“That’s convenient.”

Helper: Less convenient is the fact that they will in fact be guarding the stairwell. The majority of the goblins are almost certainly going to be there.

“Then we fight,” Caiyeri said. “As my sisters say, kill them all and rob them blind.”

“That doesn’t seem like a very elvish thing to say.”

“How many other elves do you know?”

“Fair point.”

In the end, Will had been responsible for the finishing blow on four of the five goblins, which Caiyeri was more than happy to grant to him.

“You’re smashing my expectations,” she said. “I honestly thought you would’ve died by now.”

“Thanks,” he said drily.

They split the loot the same way. Interestingly, it seemed that Caiyeri wasn’t able to loot the goblins in the same way that Will could.

Helper explained it for him.

Helper: System natives have many advantages, but they also lose out on some parts depending on the cycle. For Arcadia, it appears that looting is one of those.

“That’s a shame.”

These goblins were a cut above the first clan, so Will got out another crate for them. The armor was of no value to him, being too small for him to wear, but they were also not corrupted, which meant he actually had a shot at selling them.

Their weaponry was where they really stood out. Three of the bows were nothing more than mundane goblin longbows—which were basically human shortbows—but one was a bit better.

Item: Stealth Bow (Corrupted)

Uncommon, bronze

Goblins of all kinds are the bane of a human adventurer’s existence. Even gold-rankers have been known to fall to a swarm of goblins striking from the shadows and running. This bow is a favored weapon of raider-type goblin clans and nomads in the lands of the Silence.

Applies the [Quiet] buff to all arrows fired from this bow.

Alongside this came arrows of poison, arrows of bleeding, arrows of paralysis—all stuff Will would love to use.

There was, however, one hitch.

Helper: How are you at archery?

“Perfect,” Caiyeri said just as Will said, “Learning.”

They looked at each other.

“You have one too, right?” Will said. “These are stealth bows.”

“You picked up fighting quickly,” Caiyeri said. “Let’s find a group to practice on, shall we?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

#

Will wondered if the goblins would’ve been better off just bunching up all their troops instead of having them spread apart. Then again, there was certainly a psychological element to having so many enemies visible on the minimap, not to mention all the stealth skills the goblins tended to possess.

The issue with that, of course, came with the fact that not all of these goblins were from the same clan. They all served the Carrion Lord, but that overarching group wasn’t the same as their individual clans. Under Caiyeri’s blade, they were all too willing to spill the beans about the others. Not that it saved any of them, but it was convenient for Will.

Will was a lot better at archery than he’d thought he was. He wasn’t sure if the system was granting him some hidden archery skill or if it was just because he’d increased his Power and Speed stats, but he was landing every shot. Even if they weren’t all kill shots, the stealth bow’s effect allowed him to carefully line up another one.

And, of course, using Chaos Transfer made basically any arrow a guaranteed kill.

Bit by bit, they carved their way through ambushes, avoided groups too large to handle, and in general fought the goblins with the same underhanded techniques that Caiyeri said they were fans of.

Will really wanted to use the “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” line on one of them, but they were usually too busy screaming and dying to hear him.

[Power] advanced to Unformed 17!

[Speed] advanced to Unformed 19!

[Soul] advanced to Unformed 15!

[Perception] advanced to Unformed 14!

Over the course of hours, Will grew from Unformed 13 to 15. At these levels, he noticed, every level increase also came with an advancement of his skills towards bronze rank. Nothing was quite there yet, but Escape Artist and Weapons Free were getting close.

This was doable. Things were looking up.

#

Thirty-six. The human and the elf had killed thirty-six of Axl’s troops.

Good. Though he had initially planned to kill them quickly, things had changed when he realized the severity of his corruption.

Axl had realized that he did not want to die. Not yet. Not while there were still so many lands to be conquered.

His Overlord ability allowed him to feed upon the deaths of his underlings so long as they willfully served him and died in service of him. With thirty-six down, he could use the stored power to temporarily restore his body to a hale, uncorrupted state.

The corruption always came back, but there was one way. One desperate way.

To reach silver rank was to break through the second major barrier. The amount of power a bronze-ranker needed to do so was, to Axl, truly prodigious.

But his clans might be the lever he needed. He had been unwilling to sacrifice them at first, because though he had conquered them, they were his people.

Desperate times called for desperate measures.

The Carrion Lord had gained his name for a reason.

His people would serve him, and upon their loyal corpses he would feed.

Axl descended to the next level of the cave dungeon, knowing where the elf’s most likely target lay.

When he faced them next, he would not give them the chance to die honorably.

He was going to crush them, devour them, and bathe in their blood.