RD 2 Ch 14 (Patreon)

Chapter 14

Regeneration kicked in and started to knit my leg back together, but hobbling around on one foot made the fight that much harder.

Blocking without a back foot to hold me up was not an elegant look.

I hopped back, using the femur to parry while using blood transfusion with the other hand to help speed up the healing.

It would be quick, perhaps thirty seconds, to repair a leg hanging on by a thread. Yet in a duel that amount of time could be a lifetime.

The cyclops forced me to block and I jumped, letting the blow carry me through the air and send me backwards.

I crashed into another Heros. “Might want to get out of the way.” I grabbed the person I hit and rolled, finding that it was Rylan.

The man seemed dazed by the roll until a charging cyclops slammed its sword into the space where he’d been.

“Good luck.” I kicked back up to my single leg and danced with the monster.

Its shield stayed out in front and batted away at my attempts to harass it.

Several ranged spells came in from the sides, only to meet the shield.

“We got the archer!” Zane shouted, where he’d joined Nyx in taking down the top threat.

I felt my toes again, which was a good sign and used the leg to pivot out of the way, scoring up the side of the cyclops guard. “I have two legs again. Let’s dance.” This time I was able to press the cyclops back with the femur and knock it's shield to the side before finishing it by kicking it into a tree.

Panting, I looked around. 

In the end, they had managed everything else well enough. “Good thing I’m working on my regeneration.” I laughed and picked up the S ranked sword and shield from my opponent, stuffing them into my spatial ring without any questions and then grabbing the coins as well.

It wasn’t much, but it was an honest day’s work.

Rylan let out a big sigh of relief. “If anyone else had taken that arrow, I’m not sure they’d recover.”

“Perks of Regeneration. I think it’s going to be my new favorite ability.” I smiled at them all.

“You nearly lost your leg.” Nyx was picking up her arrows.

“Well, glad it was me. More importantly, level five?” I asked Zane.

“Nothing in here should be over level three. That’s the final boss.” He said with absolute certainty.

“Then we have a very real problem.” I leaned against the tree and twisted my leg about to make sure it was all done healing. “Because to me it looks like their levels are growing. Do you know what level this instance was originally?” My leg was good so I shifted Blood Transfusion, using it to help some of the wounded recover.

Zane frowned. “Something in the hundred and thirties?”

The group around us started to panic.

“That’s way too high! I’m only level five!”

“We’ve been here about a day?” I asked, looking around and up at the sky, despite knowing it wouldn’t change while we were inside.

I watched several people pull out their smartphones on instinct, before realizing they didn’t work in the instance and casually trying to stuff them away before others saw.

Zane had an old watch and checked it. “Yeah. It would be about 8pm now. We shouldn’t let the light fool us and get some rest soon.”

I nodded at Zane’s decision. It was the right one, especially with people this green. The adrenaline and the daylight would trick them into fighting until it caught up with them and they made lethal mistakes.

“Alright, let's find a place to camp. I have all the supplies we’ll need. Extra in fact. I planned to have enough for the full group.” Zane chuckled, glancing at me to check my reaction. “Double pillows for those who want them.”

I gave him a smile. He was doing well.

Instead, I was doing the math.

My best guess was me killing the giant leech had kicked off the instance starting to reset back to its higher level. Let’s call it twelve hours even since that event. Monsters now had gained four levels, so the instance level was increasing at about a level every three hours.

That meant that if we finished this in the expected two weeks and everything continued as it is now, we’d be facing level 113 S rank monsters by the end. Heck, if the boss started at level 3 He’d be 115.

If we were honest, there was no way we’d make perfect progress, so the monsters getting up into the 130’s was more than likely.

I rubbed my forehead. S rank monsters gained about a hundred stats a level. Discounting my spirit, that was going to be an incredibly difficult fight.

“This way! I have a secret to show you all!” Zane marched through the forest towards the mountain at the center.

I followed numbly as I tried to think of options. With all the bloodlines that were in here, I might be able to get a massive leg up. I’d have to reconnect with Galen’s group and get their bloodlines as well for the option I was playing out in my head.

This group would get me almost two thousand in stats if I got everyone’s blood. Maybe I could play up some aspects of the vampire class to do that.

Not to mention, this bloodline would unlock at some point.

Leave it to that leech to be a problem even in death. I glanced towards the mountain, wondering if he had anything at the top there. That might be how he controlled the level.

“Everyone. Feast your eyes on this.” Zane pushed aside some vines and opened the path to a cave.

I raised an eyebrow, but I stepped inside with everyone else as they let out appropriate oohs and aahs.

Inside looked like a paradise.

In front of us was a crystal clear lake that had formed at the bottom of some ruins. A hole further up the cavern gave it plenty of light. Inside the ruins there was enough shade for people to sleep.

“There’s nothing in the water.” Someone peered into it. “No monsters.”

“There shouldn’t be.” Zane hesitated.

“It’s a sanctuary.” I told them and the rest of the group. “Remember, instances are made by the world for people to clear them. Big S ranks like this one come with safe places to rest. Or that’s what my father told me.”

Zane nodded to himself at my words. Thorin made a convenient and believable excuse for the moment.

These players would need all the help I could offer during this instance.

“The water is good for drinking, and we can rest here knowing that nothing is going to attack us.” Zane stated proudly.

I wanted to interject that ‘no monster’ would attack us. Galen and his group could one hundred percent come and murder us in our sleep. But now wasn’t the time to undermine Zane’s authority.

And everyone could use some rest without fretting about other threats.

“The best part is there are over a dozen in the instance. It is ideal to use to use them as base camps and then clear a section out around them.” Zane had clearly been coached on how to move through an instance.

“Makes for a good organized hunting pattern.” I chimed in.

Zane nodded eagerly. “Exactly. But for now, let’s all bed down and get some rest. We’ll discuss our plan for tomorrow in the morning.”

I had to agree, conversations like that were best on a rested mind.

Zane started dumping sleeping bags, pillows and food into neat piles on the floor.

I ignored those and looked at the sanctuary again. After looking at it from a few angles, one of the buildings was the most ideal for me. It would be difficult to get onto it without splashing in the water.

Years of fighting had made me a light sleeper.

Jumping into the water, I sprang up onto the flat roof of one of the buildings and started to make my own bed.

Not more than ten seconds later there was a splash and Zane came over the lip of the building. “I wanted to talk to you. If it isn’t a bother.”

“Come on. Let’s do this quickly so we can all get some sleep. That includes you most of all. You need to be well rested to lead.” I sat down on my sleeping bag and took off my wet shoes before putting my socks out to dry.

I frowned at the shoes, wishing I had taken those off before jumping up.

“The instance and the growing levels…” Zane hesitated.

“Yeah. I’ve done the math. It isn’t looking good. However, we do have good news.” I held up a single finger. “The sanctuary will keep the weakest of us alive. Two, these changes should be apparent from the outside as well. Even if someone isn’t watching it all the time, someone would check when we don’t come out as expected. Three, there are mobs that drop food in here.”

Zane let out a sigh of relief. “That’s right. My grandfather should see the level rising. I have plenty of food. About six weeks worth for just our group, three weeks if I had everyone.”

“Yep. Eventually, I bet the clan will send help. Do you have any way to communicate with the outside world?” The clan might have a resource like that.

Zane pulled out a little orb. “I do, but it has to be activated from the other side.”

“You might want to keep that out of your spatial ring and put someone on watching it.” I added. “We’re going to get a call.”

He nodded and set it aside for now. “Anything else?”

I hesitated. “My class has a weird ability. Sampling the blood of other bloodlines is making me stronger.” I wasn’t going to give him more than that.

“Ah. That’s interesting. Are you asking for mine?” Zane pulled out a knife and cut his arm. “Is this enough?”

I took the knife and dipped it in the cut before using Blood transfusion to heal him. Licking the small amount of blood off the blade was plenty. And with that, I acquired another SSS rank bloodline for my Bloodline Collection ability and got a painful cramp from the increase in stats. “That’s all I need.”

“Not much for a vampire.” He commented.

“I’m on a diet.”

He gave me a good chuckle for that one. “We’ll do what you said and focus on surviving. I just wanted to ask that if things get out of hand… uh… are you able to step in and help whoever it is?”

“Of course. I may have only just met all of you, but in the end we’re family, right?” I gave him a broad grin.

“Yeah. We are.” He held his hand out and I shook it. “Glad to have some reliable family like you.”

I nodded at him and we both realized it was time for him to leave. Zane climbed down off the roof, jumping clear of the water.

“Phew. I thought he’d never leave.” Katie unfurled her sleeping bag next to mine. “We’ll at least pretend we are sleeping in separate ones.”

“We are.” I told her firmly.

“Sure we are.” She smiled. “That’s what I’ll remember after the hypnosis.”

“That not… ugh.” I groaned and knew that there was no reason to argue. It wasn’t going to work. No matter what I said or what even really happened, she now believed and could use this idea of hypnosis that made it all completely irrelevant.

Rather than lay down next to her, I got up and decided to look out over everyone else instead.

Most of them were snuggling into a big open building just a few feet above the water level. Zane was hurrying around talking to everyone, in descending order of strength. He had just left Nyx who had moved off to be on her own. I watched her checking her reflection in the water.

That’s right, she should be level five now. I was a little interested in what skills she’d get and suddenly understood why she was over there looking in the lake and hesitating.

[Snake Hair F - Transform hair into snakes providing a number of temporary abilities. Their strengths will be determined by your own stats.

Danger Sense F

Envenomed Bite F

Constrict F]

I rubbed my chin. It said temporary abilities.

Nyx was clearly trying to build up the nerves to use the ability, staring into the water and then pacing before returning to the water to look at herself again.

Sitting on the edge of the roof, I watched her to see when she’d do it.

My gaze must have been too heavy because she stopped and turned my way eventually.

I waved and gave her a big two thumbs up.

She turned away from me sharply as if I’d done something wrong.

Fuck, eighteen year olds were tough.

Nyx turned back to the water and activated the ability.

The first thing that happened was her hair grew out not just a few inches, but several feet until it threatened to touch the ground. Then it picked itself up in thick locks and snake heads made of hair and magic appeared at the end of each lock.

It was hard to count them as they kept moving and weaving back and forth, but there were about a dozen.

Then her hair lightened from its natural black into a seafoam green and the snake heads looked far more real.

Nyx looked up from the pond and the snakes gathered before her, swaying from side to side before splitting off in some sort of coordinated effort.

I realized she was testing her control of them.

After a minute of playing with them, one of them turned to me only for her gaze to come up a moment later.

I gave her two big thumbs up again and a giant smile hoping to encourage her. It was rough on a lot of people after the rapture when they started to change. I didn’t want to think about what some of them had done in response.

She blushed and the snakes fell apart, turning back into hair.

But as the ability went away, her hair didn’t return to the shorter black hair. Seafoam green hair now hung all the way to the floor as she hurried away, but I had to admit, I liked it better.

Katie clicked her tongue from where she had tried to sneak up behind me. “That woman. I already told her I’m your blood whore now.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m your bloo—What are you doing?!” She cried before she splashed into the pond down below.

“Cut it out and don’t come back up here. I’m going to sleep.” I waved at her and put up a few talismans that would keep her away as I curled up to get some sleep.