Devourer System : Infinite Paths

"Three Days Later"

A man clad in black could be seen going against a massive sinuous shadow, a creature that became visible for a moment beneath the moonlight, only to vanish back into the deep shadows of the towering trees.

An area amidst the pitch darkness shone to life, revealing its source as a long crystal white blade that moved tens of meters in a flash, meeting a wall of midnight scale in a thundering impact.

The clash resulted in a bright shockwave of energy, lighting up the immediate surroundings for just a moment, a moment that was enough for the shadowy beast to be fully revealed.

It was a massive serpent, its thick body a marvel of muscle and sinew stretching for nearly ten meters long, clad in layers of midnight scales that drank the surrounding light.

The serpent looked back, meeting eyes as dark as his own, a slithering hiss escaping his mouth as he felt the pain on his back from the scales torn open by the exchange.

"HSSSRRAAAAAARRR"

The cry of pain quickly turned to a roar of anger as the giant serpent rewound his tail and swung it like a whip, covering the distance in seconds, generating enough force to break the sound barrier.

"BOOOOMMMMMM" x2

Two massive explosions rang out, one from the breaking of the sound barrier and the other from the shattering of the lunar shield.

The Duskstalker turned his head, his eyes searching for Nero, who was already gone. A moment later, he saw the annoying human approaching him like a diving eagle.

It was already too late to react to the threat, as an instant later, he lost his right eye, a blade digging deep into his eyeball and tearing it into shreds.

"HSSSRRAAAAAARRR"

The Duskstalker roared in agony, swinging his head around to shake the human off. While angry, he still had his rationality, so the moment Nero was flung to the side, the beast turned, his jaws opening wide as he roared.

A jet of dense dark smoke gushed forth, engulfing Nero and a large part of his surroundings in a poisonous cloud that made the tree branches and leaves wither away on contact.

The Duskstalker was not done, as with his jaw still open, releasing a massive amount of toxins, he blitzed forward, tearing through the poisonous cloud and going straight for Nero.

The moment Nero's feet touched the ground, the beast was upon him, drowning him with a thick torrent of poisonous breath head-on that also made sure to pin him in place as the jaws of the beast inched closer, ready to devour him whole.

Nero shifted to the right at the very last moment, and like anticipating his move, the creature also shifted, his head turning vertical, making his open jaw cover far more area.

But that's what Nero wanted, and the moment the beast shifted, he also moved left, moving just away from his reach, and without a moment's delay, he plunged his sword just beneath his neck.

The Duskstalker felt the pain and understood that he had fallen for a trap, so he tried to pull away since he was going too fast to stop in time, but it was already too late. 

Nero pushed forth, the edge of his blade biting through the softer scales of the serpent's underbelly, and when the serpent tried to pull right to get away, he stayed on him, slicing open nearly ten feet of his underbelly in the few seconds he could secure.

The Duskstalker was finally free, but he was done, as his massive serpentine body convulsed in agony while blood and his innards gushed out. The struggle slowed down with each passing moment as life slipped away, and before long, the once mighty beast fell lifeless.

'You can praise me now. I know it was great,' Nero said, a smile spreading across his face, but it was quickly wiped clean, 'It was not bad,' Draven said, making Nero fly into a rage.

"Not Bad? I barely used Lunar Forge for support and ended the battle within two minutes, as you asked, without even taking a hit,"

"Not Bad? It was a masterpiece, the best fight I have had in three days," Nero exclaimed angrily, feeling Draven was downplaying his hard work and achievement.

'This only proves my point. You could do all of it because nearly all your attributes are above nine hundred, and even though the Duskstalker was a Second Rank beast, his best attributes did not cross five hundred points,' Draven said, making his standpoint clear.

'However, you did good,'

'You have grown greatly from your first battle in what is a very short period,' Draven said, his tone calm yet cutting. 

'But don't get too full of yourself. You are still below average with the kinds of gifts you have, so while enjoy your victory, don't make a big deal out of it,' Draven said, making Nero grind his teeth in anger, not knowing if he was being praised or insulted.

'You can do as you please till the morning, and then we are going to visit the mine,' Draven said, giving no further remarks on the current battle.

Nero did not mind the blunt critique since he had gotten used to hearing much worse in the last few days, and seeing that Draven always told him the truth made the stinging words easier to accept.

He strode toward the Duskstalker to collect his loot, his mind already going over the battle he had just experienced, thinking of ways to do better next time.

In the past few days, Nero has not only become accustomed to performing under pressure but also increased his strength and understanding of his skills.

The one major thing Nero learned about Devour was that the more he grew his strength, the fewer attributes he got from creatures of similar strength.

Now that nearly all of his attributes were above nine hundred points, a strong Second Rank creature only offered him attributes in single digits, and the closer he got to the thousand mark, the worse the numbers were getting.

He also discovered that devouring essence traits of the same nature allowed him to make them grow stronger. Not only was he able to increase the grade of his elemental affinities, but he was also able to increase elemental resistance and traits like Shadow sense or regeneration.

After collecting the corpse, Nero left the area to kill a few more creatures and push some of his attributes to the nine hundred and fifty mark before calling it a day.

In the night, Nero hunted six creatures, two of whom were second Rank, and ended his day by pushing three of his attributes past the nine-fifty mark. 

If he had not felt dead tired from all the battles, he could have pushed his strength attribute past the thousand since it was already at nine-eight points.

While he took a nap, Draven took over and, like every other night, began to create scrolls that would help them in case of an emergency.

After barely four hours of sleep, he was back on the road, leaving the jungle toward the Mardatis Ore Mine to see if it had anything to offer.

It took him nearly four hours to reach the mine area, and when he did, he found the place empty and completely different from what he had expected.

He had made a deal with the governor to mine the ore and look for the special thing Draven believed was hidden inside. Seeing the empty area, clean of any mining work or equipment, he knew they were either at the wrong place or the governor had his own plans.

'You sure this is the Mardatis Ore Mine?' Nero asked, unsure if it was the right place since there were no signs of human activity, 'This is, now, ask those two bandits following us the governor's location,' Draven said, sounding as calm as ever.

"You two should come out," Nero said as he turned around, his eyes shifting between two seemingly empty spots.

Nero had acquired shadow sense from the spider queen, and when activated, he could sense vibrations in a thirty-meter area. So, even though he could not see them, he knew two figures had followed him for the last hour.

There were a few seconds of silence before two figures appeared out of thin air, a tall, lanky male and a short female. The man was draped in dark leather armor from head to toe, with two daggers strapped to the back of his waist, and the female was in light armor, wielding a short bow.

"Sir, I apologize if you found our presence annoying. We were sent to guide you to the Governor, and since we did not wish to disturb you, we decided to wait and confirm if you wished to meet with the governor or had other plans," The female stepped forward said with a smile, a clear lie that even Nero could see through.