RD 2 Ch 23 (Patreon)

Chapter 23

My threats must have been effective enough because there was no more fighting between Zane and Galen as we moved into the morning.

A small pang hit me as I missed Simone, Gloria, or really anyone to talk to. In the short time since coming back to this life, I’d grown rather used to having someone nearby I could rely on. In the instance, that role had started to be played by Nyx. I didn’t feel nearly as comfortable with anybody else.

Even as the Wandering King, I usually had a small group with me wherever I went.

“This way.” Galen was showing me through the woods. Like much of the instance it was a lush island.

“You know, Zane almost killed you yesterday.” I kept pace.

Galen almost tripped. “No, he didn’t. I was carefully trying to get rid of all his items.”

I shook my head. “Zane’s a little soft. He wouldn’t use the ones that would blow you and your entire group away until he was out of all other recourse.” That and he killed you in the past life.

My words had an effect, and Galen kept his eyes forward, his jaw set for the next few minutes.

“Why didn’t you strip my bloodline?” Galen broke the silence.

“Because Katie has been a pain and already had several warnings. You have now had your first. I won’t be generous if you continue to cause problems. Also, if I caved your skull in, I’d be picking a fight with your whole branch, so don’t give me a good reason to do that.” I rolled my eyes.

The fact that he had the clan branch behind him was part of the reason, but it needed not to be the whole reason or he’d push harder. No reason to let him think he was that important.

“You should just crush your problems if you can.” Galen snorted.

“So I should kill you? We are out here away from everyone, and I could just…” I mimed pinching his head.

Galen didn’t back down, glaring harder at me. “You couldn’t kill me that easily.”

“No? Want to try and cut me with that scythe again?” I taunted him.

He landed, mid-run, pivoted, and struck me as hard as he could, trying to pierce my spirit.

I didn’t even block. His scythe bounced off my neck like he’d hit a steel wall. “Good luck. Also, what is with the freaking Hercules branch? You are all almost as bull-headed as the Borrsons.”

“You offered.” He huffed to hide the fear in his eyes. Galen was terrified that he couldn’t even scratch me.

“Not real— You know what? It doesn’t matter. It is probably best if you learn the futility of your actions.” I rubbed at my neck where the blade had hit. “Hit me again and I’m breaking your scythe and then your body.”

Galen held his scythe closer. “The boss is up ahead.” He slowed down. “Can I ask what you are going to do after this?”

“After the boss?” I asked.

“No. The instance. With the ability that the ancestor gave you, the clan is going to have a reaction.” Galen watched me as we moved through the area.

“Ah.” I rubbed my chin. That was already going to be a problem. “Not sure. My fiance in the clan right now has a way to contact me. Given that she hasn’t yet, and you and Zane were on your crystals with the clan this morning, I’m guessing that the situation is fine enough. Honestly, I’m more of a march by the beat of my own drum kind of person. And I protect what’s mine. If a branch decides to do something to Simone, they might find themselves unable to produce the Heros bloodline in the future, or all their children will have B-ranked bloodlines for the rest of their days.” I grinned viciously at him.

“On the other hand, if I go out of here and the branches are treating Simone to fine wine and the best oysters they can catch, then I will do my best to help the clan get the best bloodlines they can.”

Galen kept his face impassive. “Threatening the clan won’t go over well.”

“Screw them. There’s quite literally nothing they can do.”

“They could force you,” Galen said.

I smiled at him without an ounce of kindness. “Want to know the last reason I kept you alive and why I brought you out here? I want to show you what that would mean. You seem like the type that needs to see something to believe it. So, let’s see this boss.” The Hercules Branch respected one thing, strength.

Galen nodded and led the last little way before he froze in his steps.

A moment later, there was a ragged snort of some large beast.

The giant lion roamed a section of the forest with a cave that was likely a sanctuary in the near distance.

I wondered if all the bosses were close to a sanctuary. The birds had been as well. I didn’t look closely enough when I’d fought the boar to know if there had been one nearby at the time. “The rest of your group is stuck in there?” I pointed.

“Yeah.” Galen’s eyes never left the massive lion. Its fur was a thick curly gold.

[Nemean Lion S

Level: 29

Status: Healthy

Strength: 1500

Agility: 1050

Vitality: 1050

Intelligence: 150

Spirit: 400

Skills:

Golden Lion Bloodline SS

Strength of Ten S

Impenetrable Hide S

Sharp Claws S

Fire Breath S

Deafening Roar S]

I couldn’t help but appreciate the challenge in front of me. If it were level one or two, the group could normally overpower it and likely beat it to death.

[Impenetrable Hide S Rank - Exterior cannot be cut, punctured, melted, burnt, or otherwise damaged.]

This was going to be tough, not to mention Strength of Ten was at real risk of tossing me around like a rag doll.

I sat down and pulled out a sandwich. “Want one?” I asked as I took a bite.

“Is now the time to eat?” Galen frowned at me.

“It’s bad to fight on an empty stomach.” I made up an excuse. Really, we had made better time than I expected, and there was about half an hour until my bloodline should complete.

Though, should it not be what I need, Last Stand should be able to help me crush this boss.

I paused before my next bite, realizing this could be a good opportunity to train up Last Stand.

I finished the sandwich quickly and washed it down with some water. “Don’t step in to help. Going to let it bloody me up a little. It’s a good range for me to work on some of my skills.”

“Even my soul attacks don’t work on it,” Galen said.

“Ah. That’s because you are trying to pierce it, right? Interesting. Its ability works like that, too?” I mumbled to myself. That impenetrable hide even blocked a soul attack that physically pierced was impressive.

“You can see its abilities?” Galen’s eyes went wide.

I tapped my temple and smiled. “My inspect is a little special. This monster has a skill called Impenetrable Hide. Nothing you hit it with is going through that hide.”

“How do you kill it then?” Galen asked, frowning.

“Rearrange its insides with judicious application of knuckles and force.” My fists crackled as I popped the joints. “Alright, don’t help.”

Let’s see how tough this boss is.

I strode into the open area. The lion was just as tall as I was, with big golden fluffy paws that raked deep gouges in the ground when it turned to face me.

It narrowed its eyes and pulled back its mouth in a grimace as it tried to understand why I had entered its area.

“Here kitty, kitty.” I taunted it for fun.

The lion sprang forward with a roar that reverberated off the side of the mountain and tried to shake my mind.

My spirit held firm, and I ducked under those big paws and came up with a punch to the gut.

There was a solid thunk as I punched the monster. It felt more like I’d just punched a sheet of steel. But if I had punched steel, there would at least be a satisfying dent left to look at. But no, instead, the lion carried itself through the jump and landed only to round on me.

“Okay. I’ll admit. That hurt me more than it did you, didn’t it?” I shook out my hand and took a step back just in time for that big paw to swing by my face, claws extending and coming within an inch of my face.

Those knife-like claws would have torn the skin right off me.

It swung its other paw in frustration, gouging a rut out of the ground before blowing a gout of fire at me.

The fire was small at first but then expanded like an explosion swallowing the air between us and pouring over me.

I had to cover my face and roll to the side, not just to put out of the fire but also for the swish through the air that came the same second as the fire stopped.

Most monsters had a relatively similar pattern of attack, especially when they had so few special moves.

This lion was basically a giant brick wall of stats and two abilities. The fire breath and the roar were the abilities I needed to handle.

Almost every monster I knew that had some sort of broad radius attack like the fire breath would then follow up with a simple strike afterwards.

I wiggled my fingers, feeling that they had recovered from punching the lion.

It was just in time as the lion charged me again, trying to rattle my soul with that roar. Its paws came at me in quick succession, attempting to rip the skin and realistically everything off me.

I threw Blood Bolts as I danced backwards.

The lion was faster than me, but not by so much that I couldn’t add a twist or a jump to my movements and escape the simple attack pattern.

In reality, I didn’t want to get hit by this thing. Not only were those claws going to go through me like a hot knife through butter, but with its strength, it could easily start to toss me around.

Being caught by its claws and played with was when the situation would get particularly dangerous.

It would be hard to dodge if I were flying through the air.

I hit the monster in the face again with Blood Bolt, only for it to respond with a burst of flames.

Only this time, the burst was incredibly short. Just as soon as it covered my vision, it was gone, and a paw came from my side.

I twisted, but the claws still caught me enough to lift me off my feet and send me in a low arc through the air.

The lion loped forward to catch me.

I didn’t want to show off Sanguine Locking, but at the same time, I really didn’t want to be a cat toy.

The lion locked up mid-lope, only for me to come down with my elbow on its face.

I rolled off the side and released the ability before it was too obvious what I’d done.

The Nemean Lion shook its big head with a confused look on its face before rage filled it, and once again, it came for me.

My hip was a bloody mess from where it had caught me, but that only made me smile.

Fighting wasn’t fun if there wasn’t an edge of danger to it.

I was starting to realize that perhaps I had a little of my father’s blood in me after all.

I traded a few more punches with the lion, feeling my blood get hot with anticipation. But a status a moment later told me the feeling might be my blood actually reacting to a change.

[Bloodline Complete]

I barely registered the prompt before pain wracked my whole body. I’d lived through worse pain before but with my muscles and nerves firing off so many signals everything locked up, and I froze.

Unfortunately, despite my body being frozen, the lion was doing just fine. Its claws caught my shoulder and hurtled me through the air.

I rolled end over end, unable to stop my tumble as my body continued to resist my attempts to regain control.

Just how many stats did I gain?

[Primordial Titan Bloodline - M]

M?

That thought was interrupted as a golden paw knocked me farther and into a tree.

My body crackled as Regeneration reset something in my shoulder.

Fire washed over me, but it just felt like I’d stepped into a slightly too-warm sauna. Rather than worry, I bathed in it with the knowledge that I was working on my resistance.

“Fuck, you really took advantage there.” I rolled to my feet as deep gouges rent where I’d just been. Dodging out of the way had been rather easy. I looked up at the beast and smiled. This was going to be fun.