Chapter 29 - Leviathan (Patreon)

Echo turned to Fumi and tried to wake her. “Damnit! Come on! I need you!”

But she passed out from the massive expenditure of Quintessence.

Echo turned around as the undulating form approached the ship.

Kill…

Consume…

Evolve…

He retrieved his weapon but not his shield. He knew that it would be useless. This thing could swallow him whole, crack their ship in half. He looked back at Fumi.

He had to protect her. No matter what.

I’m going to regret this.

He looked at Rose, “We can’t lose the ship, or else more will come for us. Right?”

Rose nodded and her eyes went wide as she saw Echo stripping down. “You’re insane!”

Echo laughed, “Don’t leave me behind.” He took a deep breath and jumped into the water.

The liquid was lukewarm for the first several meters before cooling rapidly. He faced the Leviathan-turned-monster. Its head was the size of a semi-truck, and its body the length of several train cars.

Echo felt the Evolution Instinct pushing him onwards. He had little maneuverability down here but knew if he latched onto the creature, he could survive. He prepared a spell. Channeling the Quintessence into his off-hand as he waited for the gargantuan creature to close.

Come on. Just a little more.

Its maw opened wide. Scant meters separated the two.

He activated Alacrity [Overcharge] and released the spell. “Alter Substance.” He turned an enormous amount of water directly next to him into air, causing him to be sucked towards the gap as it rapidly filled with more of the briny liquid.

This unexpected maneuver let him get around the jaws of the creature, and its head veered towards Echo’s direction, pulled by the sudden vortex. Echo grabbed the creature and stabbed his blade into its hide.

It roared and made for the surface, breaching, and raising its sinuous coils high up. Echo was standing crouched atop it, his sword planted into the scales, and its head reared back and began to come down on him.

“Cover all in endless frost! Glacial Prison!” Rose shouted and the Leviathan’s maw was suddenly sealed by the frozen embrace. The unexpected weight caused its head to descend towards Echo, and he didn’t waste a second.

He ripped his sword out of the creature and dashed along it – his Wallwalk enabling him to run up the creature’s neck – and reached the crest above the eyes. He stabbed downwards. “Transmute Substance!” He yelled out the spell, forcing his blade to elongate and flatten inside its brain cavity.

He twisted the blade.

And the beast fell into the water, floating.

Echo canceled the spell as his sword reverted.

Consume…

He ran to the center of the creature’s sinuous length, finding the spot right above its heart that he was drawn to. He carved down and ripped the enormous heart out, jumping back to the boat as he sliced it in half.

Fumi roused as soon as he landed, her Evolution Instinct waking her despite her exhaustion.

The two devoured the creature’s heart.

Echo screamed – or tried to scream – as his mouth filled with seawater. He clutched his neck as he drowned on land, trying to heave the water out of his lungs, only for them to instantly refill. His nostrils burned and his eyes seared with pain as if they were being gouged. His fingers felt like they were tearing apart, and the same horrible sensation affected his feet. He was being crushed by titanic pressure as if he was dragged down to the depths. He felt cold - the coldest he had ever felt since Tiberius' experiment with the Mimic Cube.

Blackness took him.

“Well, waste not want not,” Rose commented as she raised her spell tool once more. “Improve upon my form, Siphon Strength.” The Leviathan’s body desiccated and sank beneath the waves as fish moved in to feed on the sudden meal.

Fumi crawled over to Echo and held him as he went through the horrific pain for both of them.

Rose looked at her curiously, “He must love you quite a bit if he is willing to go through such pain for you.”

Fumi glanced over at her before looking at her Echo, shushing him and trying to comfort him as he convulsed. “I’d do the same for him.” She whispered. “He’s all I have.”

Echo woke some time later. He sat upright and coughed a few times as Fumi gave him a tight hug.

Then, she slapped him.

He held his cheek, “Ow! What was that for?”

Then he saw it. She was crying. She buried her face in his shoulder, reverting to her shy, demurer self. “…Don’t do that again.”

Echo put his hand behind her head. “It was that or risk you being eaten.”

“…Next time, run.”

Echo shook his head, “I can’t promise that. I’ll do anything to keep you alive. Even if it means risking my life.”

That sentiment shocked him as the words left his mouth. Was he really willing to die for someone else?

I’ve done it once before. And that was for some dumb kid.

He would absolutely do it. He loved her.

Fumi passed out.

Echo looked at his unconscious lover, "What did she do?" he asked aloud.

Rose replied, "That Rift Strike. She made a new Ability using her Affinity and physical stats."

"Whereas spells are using your Affinity and Magic Potency,” Echo surmised as he gently set Fumi on the cot.

Rose nodded, "That's accurate. Fumi did something incredible; create a new Ability on the fly. It's much harder than making a spell on the fly. Hence her exhaustion.”

She described the difference between running a marathon for an Ability and completing a written test for spells and magic. One is utterly exhausting, the other just takes concentration and is mildly draining.

"And I assume that your Abilities are flavored by your Affinities for elements of creation. Or your Affinity determines how the Ability takes shape."

"Exactly. You are a quick one."

Echo grimaced, "We do need ranged options. I've thought over the idea of firearms-"

"Never heard of those before."

No firearms in this world's history.

"Something from my world," he commented as Rosa continued steering the vessel.

Echo scratched his head in thought. “I could always throw rocks. With my strength, they’d hit hard.”

“Seems barbaric for someone who comes from a technology-focused society.”

He leaned back and smirked, “Can you learn new types of magic? New Affinities?"

She shook her head, "You're born with your Affinities to the elements of creation. There are rumors of artifacts of the Gods that could give Affinities, but those are rare."

"I think we’re an exception to the rule.” He described how he gained an Affinity when he ate a monster.

Rose blinked a few times in surprise, "Well…I…That is interesting. Would you indulge me?"

Echo cocked his head slightly as Rose took off her ring, snapped off a finger, and put the ring onto another finger as the stump began to bleed. "Try eating part of me. I'm curious if you only evolve from consuming monsters."

Echo shook his head, "I don't think it'll do anything…But if it lets me use some of your ice magic…" He took the finger and glanced back at Fumi who was sleeping peacefully. "Don't let her know. I don't want her to get jealous that I ate someone else…I mean I doubt she would be jealous of that, but you never know."

Rose reached into a pouch on her hip and pulled out a flask with a black liquid. She popped the cork and chugged it down, throwing the bottle down with a loud, "Ahhhh." Her removed finger grew back, and she stretched it a few times, flexing her hand.

Echo closed his eyes and swallowed the finger down. He didn't feel the impulse to consume, but there was a tingle in his stomach, not the pain of forced evolution.

He shook his head.

Rose shrugged, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained. It was worth trying."

Echo nodded, "It was a gross experiment, but I agree; it was necessary."

A few moments passed as Rose glanced around them before her eyes set on Echo once more.

He leaned over the side of the boat and vomited, ejecting the contents of his stomach overboard. He wiped his mouth with some seawater and looked up at Rose, feeling disgusted at himself.

Rose laughed gently, "Don't worry about it. I’m not offended.”

“One more question,” Echo grunted as he finished cleaning his mouth out with the brine. “Normally spells get weaker the more Affinities a person has. But mine are stronger. Why?”

She explained that his higher Magic Potency was offsetting the increased number of Affinities. But, if the stat didn’t rise at a commensurate rate, then the spell’s power would decrease.

Echo just nodded, "I'm going to sleep. Are you good being up alone?"

"Oh yes. I'm used to solitude. But, I want you to do a favor. As a contingency, if I should end up falling in battle, take my ring with you. Consider it a memento."

"I don't think you'll be dying anytime soon. But I'll keep that in mind. Goodnight, Rose."

Echo walked over and kicked off his boots, curling up around Fumi as she instinctively pushed back into him, cuddling once more as they continued their evening rest.

The two woke up with the rising Sun and Inferno the next day, stretching and checking their Identification once more:

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

Strength: 10,210

Agility: 10,210

Fortitude: 10,210

Defense: 10,210

Offense: 10,210

Magic Resistance: 10,210

Magic Potency: 10,210

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

Active Abilities: Alacrity [Overcharge], Bulwark

Innate Abilities: The Dragon God's Blessing, Damage Immunity (Cold, 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 [Regrowth], Tideborn, Wallwalk

Affinities: Transmutation, Fire, Poison, Protection, Sound, Water

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

Strength: 9,210

Agility: 11,210

Fortitude: 10,210

Defense: 9,210

Offense: 14,210

Magic Resistance: 9,210

Magic Potency: 9,210

Equipment: Skysteel Katana, Brightsteel-Kevlar Armored Clothing

Active Abilities: Alacrity, Spatial Sever, Resonating Thrust, Waveblade

Innate Abilities: The Dragon God's Blessing, Damage Immunity (Cold, 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 [Regrowth], Tideborn, Wallwalk

Affinities: Air, Space, Fire

That was a big increase. Four-thousand across our stats. He looked over at Fumi’s plate.

“You’re stat point total is bigger than mine.” He raised his hand and pooled his Quintessence, willing a small sphere of water to rise up. “But I got a new Affinity.”

Fumi smirked and dipped her hand into the water, gasping slightly as her fingers grew webbing as they descended. “That’s weird.”

Echo leaned over the side of the boat and dunked his head in. His eyes instantly adjusted to the salt water, and his neck felt strange. Reaching up he felt…gills? He was able to breathe underwater.

Fumi’s head joined him shortly after, and he glanced at her, giggling alongside her before they pulled their heads out, laughing at each other’s underwater appearance moments ago.

Rose shook her head, “Alright you two. Come on, if you put some of that strength into the oars, we’ll get there in no time.”

And we learned something new.

Echo just learned that even non-humans could be made monsters.

There have to be tons more out there.

The thought made him smile.

I can eat as much as I want. Get as strong as I want.

All of the power, none of the guilt.

Tiberius had gathered enough. It was time.

He made his way under the cover of night to the gates of Soju along with his monstrous army.

He directed a group of them to go East to one of the watch towers and assault it. A pointless exercise only meant to divert the defending forces.

He went West with the smaller detachment, making for the farthest point away from the gates. When he arrived at a broad expanse of the wall, he put his hands on it. “Reshape to my will, Transmute Substance.”

A passageway opened, and he silently led his minions inside. Using the same spell, he closed the walls behind him.

It’s been some time. He had been here once before when he was searching for Fumi Medrana Soju for the first time. Before he learned of her capture by The Empire. Therefore, he knew the exact cave he wanted to use as his new lair.

He grinned as his cadre snuck through the stronghold.

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