Chapter 22 - Heartwoods (Patreon)

The Ability took effect as the sword cut across the air, and space distorted and tore in front of them as whatever was in the trees roared in pain. The trunks crashed to the ground and the two monsters took up a ready stance as the creature in the forest bounded out towards them in a headlong charge.

“Bulwark,” Echo muttered quickly, covering Fumi with the defensive Ability.

A bipedal monstrosity raged across the expanse. There was a cut across its torso that oozed a yellow streak. It stood six meters tall and was just as wide. The ground shook with its steps. An amalgamation of an ape and fungus, covered in mushrooms and other growths. Pale, sickly yellow, and covered in pustules that emitted a foul odor. Its eyes were pure black. The creature matched the description on the quest slip.

And then the Evolution Instinct triggered.

Kill…

Consume…

Evolve…

The thoughts resonated in both Echo and Fumi’s minds, spurring them to fight against this beast. They launched themselves headlong into the fray.

The ape lunged towards the two and they deftly jumped aside. Where its fist smashed a crater formed – three meters deep.

Echo immediately took a swing and felt his sword bite into the ape-monster's leg.

Fuck it moves fast!

He had to sprawl as the fist swung over his head before he leaped backward to gain some distance.

He had no time to think - only act - as the ape jumped towards him and he had to dive out of the way. Another larger crater appeared where the ape landed.

Fumi closed the gap and unleashed a flurry of rapid strikes that chopped into the ape but only seemed to anger it as it wheeled around on her. She ducked under a swing and ran her blade parallel to its arm as it passed over, slicing a thin sheet of flesh and growth off.

The creature roared in pain and fell forward on her, but she activated Alacrity and vanished from its sight, the only trace of her being there the afterimage of her green-flecked red Quintessence that surrounded her form like an aura.

As soon as it had impacted the ground and begun to roll itself upright, Echo ran in and got a few good swings in at its legs, successfully severing a muscle as the monster fell off balance and crumpled to the ground. The couple moved in to finish the creature as it pushed its head up and roared.

Echo felt blood run down his face and the sides of his neck. His head pulsed with intense pain, and he had to lean over as he vomited. His vision went blurry, and he sagged to his knees as his ears rang.

He tried to blink to clear his vision as Fumi grabbed him and pulled him away from a fist that crushed the spot he was just at.

"Drop the Bulwark."

Echo nodded and turned off that Ability. Fumi began to bleed from the ears slightly as well and shook her head, but the near-incapacitating headache and ringing faded.

Some type of sonic attack.

"Move!" She jumped aside and Echo activated his own Alacrity – his Quintessence blurring around him in a silver and crackling red aura - as the ape smashed into where he just was. It roared at them, but their bodies had acclimated to the sonic damage thanks to their Damage Resistance (All) Ability providing an amount of passive protection.

However, they were fighting with the disability of blurry vision and ringing ears - something neither of them had trained for. Even with Alacrity, it made for an even match between the couple and this creature.

The two circled as it swung at them. Fumi continued to dodge and take off slices using the creature's attacks against it, while Echo chopped his blade around the ape's leg, tearing deep gashes down to the bone and hobbling it.

The ape monster roared out and backed away as the two continued to circle it. It was learning, as it stopped swinging its arms wide and instead was using its fists to make quick jabs much like a boxer would. The two monsters were hard-pressed, Echo blocking with the shield and each time being staggered backward from the weight of the blow, and Fumi being pushed off balance even with her perfectly timed deflections.

Fumi dodged and wove around the attacks but couldn’t get any long slices in. Just brief cuts and slashes as the jabs did not provide the larger openings.

An idea popped into Echo’s head as he stepped past and into the ape's reach after a jab. He dropped his sword and grabbed the ape’s wrist, pulling it tight to his torso and yanking on it as hard as he could, using his immense strength stat and his body like a fulcrum to flip the ape overhead.

Fumi jumped up and neatly sliced through the ape’s arm before it slammed into the ground. Echo quickly disengaged, retrieved his sword, and danced back away from the thrashing form.

The ape roared as the wound oozed more of the sap-like blood. It rolled upright.

Echo felt a lethargy sweep over him.

If I don't turn Alacrity off, I'll run out of Quintessence.

Reluctantly he deactivated the Ability and backed away from the ape who had backed off as well, growling and snarling as it retreated from the two. Fumi looked tired as well; panting and covered in a sheen of sweat.

She must be at her limits too.

They moved close to each other as the ape kept its distance, slowly retreating to the cover of the trees.

"You're not going to get away." Echo put his hands on the ground and fired off a rapid set of spells. "Transmute Substance, Alter Substance, Atomic Hardening, Transmute Substance - Spike Sphere." His Quintessence flowed down his arms and into the ground - a silver light crackling with crimson sparks.

The ground behind the ape rumbled and rose; flowing around it like water and causing the creature to jump as it startled. In an instant, the flowing earth turned into metal and formed a sphere around it before hardening. Finally, a roar echoed inside the newly formed iron ball as several shlick noises echoed outwards…before quiet descended on the battlefield.

Echo had used all the spells before; save for the Spike Sphere he had just come up with. Acting like an iron maiden, spikes should have penetrated the whole interior. Nothing that size could have dodged all of them.

He turned to Fumi and saw her hunched down next to the monster's hand. She glanced up at him and smiled, panting. The headache had cleared, and the ringing had stopped as Echo's vision returned to normal.

"Good job." Fumi came over and patted him on the butt.

Echo blushed, "Thanks. Let's make sure though." He walked over to the sphere and put his hand on it. "Transmute Substance." He reshaped the sphere into a cage with bars.

The ape-monster was quite dead, covered in numerous stab wounds the size of his fist, in addition to the slices and slashes from the two monster’s weapons.

"Why not do that at the start?" Fumi asked as she knelt to examine the thing.

Echo recast the spell as the metal melted away and followed up with another spell to transmute it back to earth. "I don't think it would've worked if it was moving at full speed. Even with Alacrity we barely kept ahead of it." Transmuting took time. Seconds, but that could be an eternity in a heated battle.

Fumi nodded and, in a few slashes, cut the ape monster into pieces: cutting down to its heart and slicing that in half. "Let's eat!"

Echo nodded and reactivated Bulwark on Fumi as the two looked at the bluish meat.

Consume…

He gave in to the impulse and scarfed down the meat as Fumi did the same.

But a crystal-clear thought went through his head right after he had swallowed it.

That was a person.

He felt the wave of revulsion go through him.

They were trapped. And this is just meat.

The thought brought him a little comfort that he wasn’t really eating people. He was a monster, they were monsters. It was Darwinistic - survival of the fittest.

Evolve…

The throbbing headache returned, as did the ringing, and the horrific stomach cramping as Echo collapsed to the ground and gasped. It felt like he had been stabbed in the guts, and someone was twisting the blade around and around as a horrible suction threatened to drag him into a singularity. The ringing increased until it felt like he was listening to a live orchestra inside of his skull, the noise drowning out all sense of thought and reason as he kicked violently.

Fumi knelt next to him and cradled his head as he went through the pain of evolution for them both.

"Shhh, it'll be okay," was all she said as she caressed his face, and he gritted his teeth. After a few minutes, the pain subsided and cleared leaving him panting from the exertion. Fumi leaned down and kissed him, "All better?"

Echo nodded and sighed, "Just let me lay here for a bit."

Fumi smiled and cupped his chin, "Take as long as you need."

He pulled out his identification, needing to see what changed. Fumi did the same.

Name (Race / Rank): Echo Asheron (Monster / S)

Strength: 4,210

Agility: 4,210

Fortitude: 4,210

Defense: 4,210

Offense: 4,210

Magic Resistance: 4,210

Magic Potency: 4,210

Equipment: Brightsteel-Kevlar Armored Clothing, Titansteel Shield, Skysteel Bastard Sword, Pocket Dimension Ring

Active Abilities: Alacrity, Bulwark

Innate Abilities: The Dragon God's Blessing, Damage Immunity (Sonic), Damage Resistance (All), Darkvision, Detect Abilities, Detect Magic, Disease Immunity, Eternal Youth, Evolution Instinct, Far Sight, Feral Senses, Perfect Casting, Perfect Defense, Poison / Toxin Immunity, Regeneration

Affinities: Transmutation, Fire, Poison, Protection, Sound

Name (Race / Rank): Fumi Medrana Soju (Monster / S)

Strength: 3,210

Agility: 5,210

Fortitude: 4,210

Defense: 3,210

Offense: 8,210

Magic Resistance: 3,210

Magic Potency: 3,210

Equipment: Skysteel Katana, Brightsteel-Kevlar Armored Clothing

Active Abilities: Alacrity, Spatial Sever, Resonating Thrust

Innate Abilities: The Dragon God's Blessing, Damage Immunity (Sonic), Damage Resistance (All), Darkvision, Deathless, Detect Abilities, Detect Magic, Disease Immunity, Eternal Youth, Evolution Instinct, Far Sight, Feral Senses, Perfect Casting, Perfect Offense, Poison / Toxin Immunity, Regeneration

Affinities: Air, Space, Fire

"I got a whole new Affinity! But you didn't…maybe it's because you aren't someone who uses spells?" Echo asked aloud.

Like we are evolving to our strengths.

Fumi nodded and gazed at the tree line, "...Mhmm. I wonder if we will find Tiberius in there."

He followed her gaze, "I've had enough of a break. Feel like training while we travel?"

Fumi nodded and slapped him - hard - on the rear, "Tag!" She ran forward leaping to the large branches of some trees.

"Hey! No fair!" Echo raced off after her and jumped into the branches.

Rickard fell to his face in front of Lux.

“You have shown me loyalty. Your zeal within the Lightbringers has been noticed. Rise.”

Rickard did, and the sight of his Goddess brought him to tears of joy.

She looked past Rickard, to the angelic protector. “Is he ready?”

The protector nodded, “He is, my lady of luminescence.”

Lux smirked and held her hand up.

Rickard's breath caught in his throat.

“I give you a fragment of my power, my champion. My paladin.”

His heart soared as the warmth suffused his being. His body changing and becoming stronger, faster, and more deadly.

And his mind grew fuzzy. His thoughts were more muted and dulled - even more so than the brainwashing sessions he had been subjected to.

He felt his sense of self fading.

Only joy and love for his goddess existed.

Nothing else mattered.

Just what she wanted.

Her will be done.

“Time to send you back to Heimfold. You must get used to your power.”

The two pursued each other - practicing movement in the new terrain and engaging in a loving but deadly game of tag as they raced through the trees.

The forest they were traveling through - The Heartwoods - was famous for the druidic circles that called the vast tree-covered landscape their own. Druids, who were able to use their Quintessence to harness the raw forces of the six prime elements, were quick to anger against those who were not permitted in their homeland.

They danced across the tree branches, swinging and sliding across the terrain as the beasts below scurried away in confusion from the raucous, energetic couple. Even if someone wanted to chase them, the duo could easily outpace the pursuer.

The trees surrounding them were a host of varieties that could easily be found in a temperate forest; oaks, elms, ash. But they were enormous compared to the trees on Earth. The branches were easily a meter across - even at the middle height they were traversing. The lowest branches were two meters or more in width. A fall from their height would easily kill a normal person.

The danger didn't daunt either in the slightest. Echo especially, as being a powerful hero was all he wanted out of this second chance at life.

Not the hero, just a hero.

He felt like he was becoming just that. Embarking on a quest to save a Queen, finding a romantic interest, and getting stronger every day.

The only downside was the pain of evolution and the revulsion he felt towards himself for eating monsters that used to be people.

Rickard walked with confidence into the local Thieves Guild headquarters in Skystone City. One of The Holy Empire’s most profitable trade locations, he knew that the Dark Hand was stationed there.

Umbra’s thieves.

The Dark Hand was a cult that worshipped the Dark Lady. The opposite of his Goddess.

The one, true Goddess.

Several cloaked figures stood up and brandished weaponry.

Rickard grinned with manic fervor, wielding his enormous hammer, and swung down into the ground as the world exploded in light – his Goddesses’ power on full display.

The building collapsed into rubble, instantly crushing all the occupants.

He shook off the falling stones and strode out, heading down the boulevard and past the rushing onlookers.

By her will.

Hours passed for the two monsters until they finally crested the forest edge and the dark peaks stretched up in front of them.

"It's a big mountain," Fumi said softly. Slow, gentle slopes for all of thirty meters before they became a sheer cliff face that traveled very, very high. Up to the clouds above.

"It's getting towards evening. Want to set up camp and then head up?"

"Mhmm."

They repeated the same routine as the night before, making camp, and eating a quick meal. Glancing at each other, the Evolution Instinct jolted through them.

Breed…

They indulged in each other, sating the instinct.

Rickard blazed a holy path of radiant destruction that left sorrow and awe in his wake.

Shop after shop, building after building. The power of his Goddess gave him the ability to see all who had violated her teachings.

Even the servants of Terra sent to stop him were heretics in his eyes.

There is only Lux.

Rickard continued his swath of righteous retribution. And he exhorted her praises with every step, with every swing of the hammer. He was her gifted paladin. Her divine avenger.

Her will be done.

During the night, they heard odd, skittering noises outside of their tent.

Echo gently rolled out of the cot and poked his head outside.

Several spider-like creatures were circling and moving in on their campsite.

“Damnit. Can we not get a single night's sleep?”

Fumi woke up, poking her head out alongside his. “They’re big.”

And they were enormous spiders, the size of wagons. But they weren’t Tiberius’ creations. The Evolution Instinct had not pulsed through either Echo or Fumi.

The two hastily threw on their clothes and retrieved their gear as the cluster approached.

“Here they come,” Fumi said as she raised her blade aloft.

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