Wolf of the Blood Moon - Book 4 - Chapter 6 - The Rift (Patreon)

                                                            Scarlet

The very first thing I find inside of the cave is a bunch of insects. Large ones spanning a meter in height with six legs, two compound eyes, and a hard carapace and shell.

Basically giant beetles. With a glowing green liquid dripping from their mouths.

|Drone #406 – Tricidic Beetle Spawn – Level 501|

|Drone #405 – Tricidic Beetle Spawn – Level 501|

|Drone #400 – Tricidic Beetle Spawn – Level 501|

|Drone #404 – Tricidic Beetle Spawn – Level 501|

|Drone #415 – Tricidic Beetle Spawn – Level 501|

Well that’s an… interesting set of names.

“It’s not nice to judge,” Tar comments, but I ignore him as I begin using Life Drain on the creatures. And at the same time, I use Blood Empowerment on Life Drain to increase its effect using the very life energy the Life Drain skill drains from them in the process.

Which makes a really nice combination.

Ya know, maybe I should just focus on leveling Life Drain to level 30. It might go faster just because of Blood Empowerment.

“Maybe,” Tar comments as the beetles begin growing berserk while charging at me and flinging around what I can only assume is poison from their mouths. An assumption that grows increasingly likely when said poison splashes on the stone of the walls – stone that isn’t covered in blood lycan the ground is – and it begins to burn through the walls with ease.

Right. So don’t let the acid touch me.

Got it.

Tar snorts in my mind as I rush towards the beetles, but I pause after a second.

Wait. Or should I let the acid touch me?

“It’s acid,” Tar comments. “You’re not going to get any Gradual Corruption Nullification training from it when the acid will be gone by the time you nullify it.”

Oh. True.

I continue sprinting towards the beetles before beginning to tear into them with abandon, the creatures being quite weak in comparison to me despite them being a higher Class. If only barely.

At one point I do end up getting acid on my arm, but it doesn’t seep through or even harm my armor very much, so I ignore it. And as I continue fighting, I notice the armor repairing itself not much later from the minimal damage it received.

Which is a nice boon. Although that only happens after it drains a tiny bit of blood from my blood storage.

It doesn’t take long after that to finish off the rest of the beetles, and after I do, I can’t help but smile at my armor. Because unlike my old armor, this one actually repairs itself automatically by drawing on my blood storage. Something Leonidas added in later on.

So I don’t have to waste any time or mana using repair on it, and it’s automatic. Not to mention the under armor that lets damage go straight to me when hit directly instead of damaging the under armor.

It’s very comforting knowing that even if my armor is destroyed, I at least won’t be naked afterwards.

I stretch a little before continuing further into the cave.

Let’s see if we can’t find these crystals.

“It’s too bad the map doesn’t include their exact location, just the location of where they are aboveground,” Tar comments, and I can’t help but nod.

Then again, maybe there will be something interesting to hunt in this cave.

It doesn’t take long before I find more beetles and immediately begin to battle them.

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                                                    The Void

Tarankar, otherwise named by Scarlet as Tar, watches Scarlet fight the demons through a half-formed portal in the In-between, otherwise known as the Void. But after watching her for several minutes, he purses his lips and sighs.

Ever since Scarlet had entered his life, he has been conflicted. He loves Scarlet like a best friend – since he doesn’t actually love most of his siblings, he won’t say he loves her like a sister. At the same time though, she reminds him of painful memories.

Memories of his previous contractor and how he died after trying to reach too high.

Right when he’s about to sigh again, a loud ripping sound echoes across the In-Between, making him blink in surprise. Then his father appears next to him in his artificial dragon form as he declares, “Son, the prophecy is starting to come to its next arc. Make sure the girl is prepared.”

Tarankar blinks again at that, only for his father to vanish again.

Then Tarankar turns towards where the ripping sound came from, only to find a small, jagged line running across the blackness that is the Void. And out of that jagged line, a single void creature – a grotesque being made up of insect-like chitin and tentacles – attempts to make its way through, only to fail and get stuck. Then it gets electrified by the rift in the Void itself.

Oh… that’s… not good…

From Tarankar’s lessons as a child, he understands that the Void is separated into various areas, with some areas being able to connect naturally to the mortal realm and the Farshore, and others not being able to. And for as long as the fae have existed, the void creatures have all been on the areas of the void not connected to either.

But now Tarankar can’t help but look on in fright as more void creatures reach the rift from the other side, only to join the first one in death.

If father is right and the next arc of the prophecy is starting soon, then the void creatures will begin to break through the rifts into the other areas of the void where they will then make their way into the mortal universe.

Tarankar watches the rift for several minutes in silence, not paying much attention to Scarlet’s battles as he does so. And it isn’t until he is absolutely sure that it’s only the beginning of the prophecy’s arc and that the rift isn’t going to grow any larger for a very long time does he return his attention to Scarlet.

I hope she can reach Class IV before turning twenty… because if she doesn’t get that achievement, she’ll never be able to upgrade Gradual Corruption Nullification. And if that doesn’t happen… the universe and the Farshore might be done for.

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