Duskbound

I need to find a way to gain access to all my gear at once, Velik lamented as he used his ring's [Power Surge] to help him leap all the way up to the dungeon core. He'd already had it ready to go before even entering the chamber, but now he wanted his spear back. [Mana Drinker] was quickly becoming his favorite enchantment now that he was taking in the mana directly.

"Traitor," the monster spat out. Velik could hear the clicking and scraping sound of its voice, but he found that he could understand its words anyway. He suspected it had something to do with the monster being an elite, some innate property that allowed it to bring other monsters under its control.

That was a worrisome prospect, since it implied that Velik himself was a monster right now. But, if that was the case, he was at least a monster with free will. The shelled horror clinging to the dungeon core had ordered its minions to kill the three hunters, but Velik had felt no need to obey that command.

"Your kind keeps calling me that," Velik said, surprising himself when it slipped out. I guess whatever it's doing goes both ways. "I am and always have been a human first. I betrayed nothing."

"The gold blood in your veins begs to differ," the monster said. "Not that it will matter for long."

[Apex Hunter] had a solid idea of how dangerous this monster was, but Velik didn't trust those instincts. The agents of corruption could draw more strength out of their hosts at the cost of long-term debilitating injuries, but it wasn't like the agents cared. They'd use up the body, discard it, and take a new one.

Velik thought he knew what to expect from a normal monster of this strength and decided to treat it like fighting something with all the power, speed, and willingness to take damage to get what it wanted, except still calm and collected. If he could keep it talking for a few more seconds, though, so much the better. It gave him that much more time to complete his equipment swap. Besides, it wouldn't hurt to get a few answers.

"Why does the color of my blood matter?" he asked.

"It won't once you're dead!"

The giant… spider… thing scrambled forward, its many legs clicking against the thick stone webbing. Either it was lighter than it looked, or whatever they were standing on was stronger than steel. Either way, Velik was wary about his perch collapsing beneath him.

Something erupted out of the monster's mouth, but it was too slow to catch Velik. He leaped ten feet sideways to land on a different anchor strand, only to find the monster had spit out three more of the things. They were like spiked balls, a foot wide with barbs sticking out another six inches in all directions. The first one had struck the stone webbing and bounced off, but the other three were racing toward Velik.

He managed to duck under the first one and, at the cost of almost falling off, rolled to the side to dodge the second. The third struck him just above his shoulder. Skin tore, and blood flowed freely down his front leg. Worse, the spike stuck in his flesh. Its hooks jabbed deep into muscle, holding tightly and preventing him from shaking it free.

Of all the time to not have hands…

The pain, strangely, was muted. It definitely hurt, and Velik was no stranger to that, but it didn't hurt as much as he felt like it should. Poison? he wondered as he heaved himself back upright. The leg tingled, a good sign, but he wasn't convinced he was safe yet. Hopefully, this form's regeneration would fix whatever toxins the monster had hit him with.

First, he needed some mana to power that. The transition was coming along slower than Velik wanted, but it was nearly done now. By the time Velik had the monster between his jaws, he'd be ready. Ignoring the spiky ball still clinging to his shoulder, he gathered his strength and leaped back over to the monster.

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It responded by lashing out with two of its legs while the other six clung to the webbing. The air cracked from the speed of the swipes, but Velik was quick enough to keep up with them. He caught one leg in his mouth and clamped down, ignoring the pain radiating down through his teeth into his jaw as he stopped the momentum. The other smacked futilely against his flank repeatedly, but the monster couldn't force Velik to let go.

The hard shell cracked, filling Velik's mouth with something foul, so strong that he almost spit the offending limb out by reflex. But then his spear's enchantments came in, and [Mana Drinker] started its work. The [Sharp] enchantment didn't hurt things either, allowing his teeth to sink deeper into the leg.

While he clamped down, Velik was also pulling. The monster outweighed him significantly, and it wasn't easy to move it when it had so many extra legs clinging to the stone, but Velik was stronger than anything he'd ever met at that moment. He pulled, and the monster resisted, and the arm was the loser. It ripped free with a splatter of goo, only to be spat out a moment later.

Neither of them watched it fall, but the sound of it striking the ground below was clear over the struggle taking place between Velik's allies and the monster's minions. "How many more can you lose before you're the one falling off?" Velik asked.

There was a sharp cracking sound, and the monster reared up to reveal its belly for a moment. Seven legs originated from under it, and the remaining stump was dripping some sort of ichor. It popped free, a new leg shooting out to take its place. The monster slumped back down with a satisfied rumble, then turned its eye back to Velik.

"You'll have to do better than that," it said. Then it bulled forward, intent on smashing Velik with its sheer mass.

He leaped up, scrambling to clamber over top it and avoid its charge, but while he was moving, he noticed something. The stone holding them up groaned, just slightly. Is it because we're farther from the center, or is [Burden of the Beast] affecting it?

There was only one way to find out. Velik raked and clawed at its armored back, digging hard and even going so far as to set off a [Dread Lance] in an effort to split its shell. The monstrous spider-thing spun wildly, trying to throw him off. It even took to the wall, climbing straight up and shaking itself to loosen Velik's grip. At that point, Velik was forced to concede that his spear wasn't the piece of gear he needed at the moment and reached for his cloak instead.

Over the next few seconds, he fled the monster, leading it on a chase from strand to strand. It proved entirely capable of jumping, though it was reluctant to do so unless near either the center or the edge of a stone bridge. It might have been afraid of collapsing the strand, but it was surprisingly light for its size and Velik wasn't willing to try to bait it into the jump, not when he had a skill that would do the job for him.

He went on the attack again, dodging more of those spiked balls as he closed in. The one hanging off his shoulder was starting to slip loose, but only because the flesh it was lodged in was healing over and forcing the hooks out. He was hopeful that it would fall free soon, and the last thing he wanted was to deal with even more of them.

Then the monster did something unexpected. Just as Velik leaped on it, its whole body electrified. Lightning wreathed its shell, and the instant Velik touched it, it transferred to him. His legs immediately seized up and he started to slide sideways. Smoke curled away from his fur as it burned, and his vision went white. No! he thought desperately as he tried to force his limbs to move, but it was no use.

In the few seconds it took him to regain control of himself, he slipped off the spider-thing and bounced roughly across the stone bridge into the open air. Nothing separated him from the ground, nothing but the magic of his Ravensfeather Cloak. Velik rolled, getting his feet under him just as he went over the edge. [Air Walk] caught him, and he leaped back up. A second [Air Walk] saw him rise over the monster just as the sparks of lightning faded away.

His whole body was still numb, but Velik angled himself for the wound he'd torn open. A second later, he was perched on top of his prey, teeth and nail digging deep. The stone groaned as [Burden of the Beast] weighed his target down. Slowly, it was crushed under its own bulk until the bridge holding them up snapped, sending the monster and Velik both tumbling to the ground.

Velik leaped free and saved himself with another expenditure of [Air Walk]. That was about all the cloak was good for until it recharged, so he immediately started the process of shifting back to his spear. He touched down a second after the spider-thing did, its body crunching hard against the stone. Cracks spidered out from the impact site, and no less than three of the lizards Torwin and Aria had been fighting were crushed beneath it.

[You have slain Juggernaut Tick (level 41).]

[You have been awarded 2 decarmas.]

[Burden of the Beast has advanced to rank 4.]