Adrenaline Junkie [Book 2 Complete]

[Wave 3: Completed]

[Wave 4: Approaching: [Inferno Behemoth Lv 101] × 2]
Spirit Contract Functionality: Active
Core Usage: Disabled
Spirit Fusion: Required
Countdown: 00:10:00...

Archie stared at the new notifications hovering in the air in front of him, brows furrowed. He wiped the last of the Reaver's blood from his jaw and exhaled, already feeling the creeping heat radiating from the closed arena gates off to his left-hand side.

Vul hovered nearby, looking a bit dimmer than usual, still recovering from the last clash. Wisps of vapor coiled off his form, flickers of residual lightning occasionally crackling off his molten skin. "How, I hate lightning," he grumbled.

Archie tilted his head. "What the hell is Spirit Fusion?"

Vul grunted, glancing at the notification. "Ah, right. My bad, I forgot you're new to this, how spirit stuff is."

Archie turned to him fully, wiping a streak of sweat from his temple. "You know what it is?"

"Of course I do," Vul said, rising a little higher in the air. "I just didn't think we'd be doing a Spirit Fusion so early on."

He trailed off, and Archie arched a brow. "Vul."

Vul waved a molten hand vaguely in the air. "Relax. You've got the Spirit Bond skill active, right?"

"Yeah," Archie said slowly, glancing at the molten veins running down the thorn-wreathed vines from Thornscourge Expansion. "But, this only gives me slightly elevated Intelligence and Wisdom Buffs and lets me use your Magma Affinity when I activate the bond with you."

Vul let out a low, rumbling noise that sounded similar to a volcano grumbling. "That's the surface bonus you get from Spirit Bond, it's like you're just dipping your toe in the lava pool and not diving in it. Spirit Fusion is when we take that bond to the next level. You will have our bodies to merge. You'll borrow more than just affinity, you'll be wielding a portion of my essence in a sense."

Archie blinked. "So wait, what does that even look like? Are you climbing inside me? Do I wear you like armor? Am I turning into a lava monster?"

Vul smirked, ember eyes gleaming, not taking any offense at being called a lava monster. "Yes."

"…Which one?"

"Yes."

Archie opened his mouth, then shut it.

"Just do it," Vul said with a shrug, already starting to glow brighter as his reserves went back to full. "Focus on our bond within Spirit Bond and will us to become one. You'll feel it start. The first few seconds are rough… but you'll know what to do when you experience it."

The arena trembled as the next gate began to rise, twin pillars of molten stone forming as smoke billowed through the gap.

The heat was suffocating now.

Two massive shapes shifted in the smoke, their hulking outlines were larger than any living thing Archie had ever seen. Their heads were broad, and protruding from them were tusks. Their towering forms were cloaked in flowing lava and obsidian plates.

Archie took a step forward, eyes narrowing. Then he turned to Vul. "You better not melt my pants."

Vul snorted. "You're wearing full armor, genius."

"Yeah, but I didn't know I needed to make them fireproof."

Archie let out a deep exhale as he focused on the bond that settled around his soul that tied the connection of the spirit contract between him and Vul. Once he had a decent grasp on it, he pulled, and everything turned dark.

Archie pulled on the bond between him and Vul while Spirit Bond was active.

Almost immediately, he felt a rush of warmth flood into his body, but it was not the blistering, skin-peeling heat he expected it to be, considering how he was attempting to fuse with a being made out of magma. It was far more tame, like sinking into a hot spring after a long day at work.

As the heat coursed through his body, he began to hear his own heartbeat echo in his ears, he felt the tips of his fingers begin to tingle, then that tingle began to spread all across his body, like annoying pin pricks.

"Relax," Vul's voice echoed through his mind. "Let the fusion fully finish, the Inferno Behemoths are stuck in place, courtesy of the System."

Archie staggered slightly as he felt the fusion begin its second stage and surge through his torso, transforming his skin into magma.

Magma bled through the seams in his armor but stopped short of leaving the confines of his armor and going beyond the outline of his body.

The Headdress of the Savage Ursine hissed and fused slightly with Vul's glow, its spiritual resonance amplifying.

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Vul's voice drifted again, deeper now. Almost as if it came from his own chest.

"In this form, all fire and earth elemental attacks from enemies at our level or below will deal significantly less damage to you. Magma attacks coming at you from our enemies, our level and lower, deal zero damage to you. In fact…" Archie could almost hear the grin in Vul's tone, "…They fuel you. They give you a small boost to mana regeneration and, according to my previous contractors, a small boost to health regeneration as well."

Archie clenched and unclenched his fists. Smoke billowed from between the openings of his armor and head as it was now completely encompassed in magma.

"And lightning?" he asked.

"Lightning will cut through you like paper if you're not careful," Vul admitted. "Our magma structure makes for a perfect conductor for them. So, if you end up fighting someone with a lightning element, don't assume your Spirit Fusion form."

"Great," Archie muttered as his vision returned back to normal. "I'll keep that in mind when fighting inside a thunderstorm."

Another tremor shook the arena floor as the Inferno Behemoths stepped fully into view, molten tusks glowing like dying stars, their feet causing the obsidian floor to crack with each stomp.

"Alright," he growled, voice now rougher, with an echo of Vul's behind every word. "Let's see how long they can stand the heat."

Then he moved – faster, heavier, stronger. Every step left behind a brief, smoldering footprint as the magma-fused warrior shot forward.

The Inferno Behemoths roared as they were released out of their stuck-in-place state.

Their guttural roar rattled deep in Archie's chest and across the arena. Their Flame flared out atop their tusks while jets of steam hissed from their mouths and noses.

Archie didn't slow, instead, he increased his speed by activating Savage Charge.

His vision tunneled, and everything around him blurred. In a single explosive movement, the sand beneath his feet transformed into bubbling glass that cracked beneath each footfall, the magma within his fused form syncing perfectly with Savage Charge.

He weaved past a massive, downward swipe of an obsidian-plated hand, dodging effortlessly in mid-charge as part of the skill's momentum clause.

His shoulder met the first Behemoth's knee.

The collision sounded like a meteor strike. The Behemoth's knee buckled. Fractures spread across its obsidian armor as it let out a distorted howl, stumbling back a half-step.

Archie didn't stop.

The next two strikes followed the charge, empowered as promised. Magma-coated fists slammed into the creature's leg again, each hit ringing with amplified fury. Chunks of molten armor sprayed like shrapnel.

Before the Behemoth could counter, Archie activated Adrenaline Rush and pushed it to 15% for the fun of it.

The second Inferno Behemoth roared and brought its tusks down in a savage arc, intending to skewer his body and barbeque him.

Archie twisted his body while back-stepping just as the tusks of the second Inferno Behemoth were a good five meters away from him and unable to stop its charge. Tufts of flame and sand flew past his face as vines shot from his arms and wrapped themselves around the massive head of the Inferno Behemoth.

While midair, Archie flooded Adrenaline Rush to 25% as he twisted himself and yanked the second Inferno Behemoth's massive skull downward using the anchored vines from Thornscourge Expansion.

The creature's momentum became its downfall.

Its own weight crashed it headfirst into the sand-packed arena floor, the impact sending an eruption of superheated and bubbling sand and steam skyward. The vines recoiled like whips, snapping free from their jagged obsidian plating as Archie landed with a molten stomp, crouched, eyes glowing.

Relentless Flurry activated as he launched himself toward the grounded Inferno Behemoth, magma surging through his limbs, fists blazing as his Embergrasp Gauntlets' Ember's Embrace became empowered by the excessive amount of heat being generated by his Spirit Fusion state with Vul.

His body blurred as he launched a brutal chain of blows directly into the side of the Inferno Behemoth's throat and chest, with each punch empowered by the relentless rhythm of his ever-growing rush of adrenaline caused by his bloodline. The thorns from Thornscourge Expansion across his fists grew with every strike he sent, piercing and tearing molten armor, spraying liquified flame across the sand.

The second Behemoth roared in pain, thrashing wildly as the thorns grew larger and dug deeper into it.

A rumble from behind was heard by him, but he didn't turn.

The first Inferno Behemoth was back on its feet, obsidian tusks glowing white-hot, rage distorting its already molten features. It bellowed and charged.

Perfect.

Archie activated Earthen Grasp.

Roots surged from the glass-cracked earth beneath the first Behemoth, molten veins pulsing through them as they snared its legs mid-charge. The creature's momentum worked against it once again, its own speed became a shackle as the reinforced roots snapped taut and slammed it face-first into the ground with a splintering boom.

Uncaring of the cloud wave of sand that rippled all around him by the first Inferno Behemoth's slamming into the ground, Archie cocked back his right fist for a final strike on the second Inferno Behemoth's jaw, and just moments before his fist connected with its jaw, he activated Hyper Impact.

The blow landed with a thunderous crack that resulted in a shockwave that rippled through the air like a sonic boom. The Behemoth's entire form shot upwards from the blow, but along with its rise, a sharp crack was heard from its neck, and not a moment later, a System Notification's ding echoed in his mind, informing him that the Inferno Behemoth was dead.

*[Inferno Behemoth Lv 101] has been slain – Partial XP has been given.*

His body burned, and began to strain from the push of Adrenaline Rush and Spirit Fusion working in tandem.

He'd barely had them on for less than a couple of seconds, yet he was already feeling an exhaustion similar to how he felt back when he was cursed. He would

need to lower the percentage of Adrenaline Rush in order to lessen the insane stamina cost of keeping both abilities active.

Dialing Adrenaline Rush down to 10%, Archie pivoted back to the first Behemoth, still tangled in Earthen Grasp, stunned and halfway buried in a crater of its own making.

His fists became molten hammers, each punch laced with the burning pulse of Leeching Strikes of Fury, every impact ripping vitality from the Behemoth and funneling it straight into Archie's own veins.

The obsidian armor crumbled within the first twenty or so strikes of Archie's relentless punches..

The beast howled, or tried to, but the moment the armor around its jaw was destroyed, its jaw was instantly shattered, leaving it to hang loose off to the side, spilling out red flame like drool as its body struggled to get Earthen Grasp off of it.

Archie's eyes narrowed as the rush of excitement he felt was beginning to dull. There was no need to drag this out. He should end the fight right now, so he could start the next one, the last one.

He drove his arm straight through the Inferno Behemoth's throat, a geyser of fiery blood and sand erupting behind it. The Inferno Behemoth's eyes flashed bright red before dimming.

*[Inferno Behemoth Lv 101] has been slain – Partial XP has been given.*

[Wave 4: Completed]

"Start the next wave," Archie shouted just as another screen was about to pop out in front of him.