[Skill-Eater 2] Chapter 78: The Swamp (Patreon)

Although he had already charted a course, Edge needed to be careful now that he was operating within dungeon’s third zone. The most pressing threat was drawing too close to the water, since it was filled with aquatic and amphibious monsters that were a terrible match for his skillset.

Even still, it was safer than staying in the jungle. He had his wayfinder, which meant that after he discovered a viable route, he would always be able to find it again. Until they finished the painstaking process of mapping the region, the jailbirds would have trouble reaching him, even if they saw him.

His greatest fear was running into an ambush predator, along with the bone slime and the third elite monster, which he assumed was laired in the final zone of the dungeon—somewhere near the boss’s chamber.

Edge made his way back to the island he’d spotted earlier, following fingers of land that were either elevated or wide enough that something couldn’t reach out from the marsh and grab him. He was forced to deviate from his original route on several occasions, to avoid drawing too close to a hungry creature.

As he crossed the wetlands, stopping every now and again to Conceal his trail, he reviewed everything that he’d learned from watching the feed that might help him resolve his predicament. He crept from island to island while pondering how he might obtain a Unique skill and hammering out a strategy for advancement once he evolved to stage two.

He came up short on the former but made some progress on the latter. Nothing concrete, but some promising ideas that he would flesh out when he had time to spare. For the most part, the swamp was deceptively peaceful. Unlike the jungle, which had powerful monsters roaming everywhere while competing for corrupted resources, most of the action was taking place below the water.

He knew that this veneer of tranquility was just an illusion, and the terrain was almost as deadly as the monsters that called it home. Case in point, Edge almost died after falling into a patch of quicksand that looked like solid ground. Fortunately, it was one of the scenarios that he had prepared for. He leaned back to slow his descent, then manifested his iceblade and drove it into the muck.

Over the next few minutes, the surface of the watery soil transformed into icy slush, which eventually grew thick enough crawl on. He cast Entangle on the closest patch of dry land, then inched forward until the tendril looped around his wrist and helped to pull him out.

After that, he advanced with his naginata in hand, testing each stretch of soil before committing his weight. It slowed him down, but it was far better than the alternative. Every time he spotted more quicksand, he noted its location in his wayfinder, since it might come in handy if the convicts found his trail and he needed to evade their pursuit.

He had to hide from monsters twice over the next few hours. One was a flying serpent as thick as his wrist, and the other looked like a poison arrow frog the size of an Earth donkey. Both would be awful to fight in this terrain, regardless of the skills they were packing. Fortunately, they couldn’t sense him with Conceal running and quickly lost interest in favor of pursuing other prey.

The mist returned in the late afternoon—the earliest that he had seen it appear inside the dungeon. He laughed when he realized that he now felt relief at the arrival of the magical phenomena, instead of existential dread. Oh, what a difference a day makes. He made better time past that point, since it was harder for the monsters to find him. Most of them, at any rate.

Late in the afternoon, he finally made it to his destination—one of the largest patches of dry land he had seen in the zone. There was only one way in unless you could swim. It was a double-sided sword, but it would let him trap the only approach to the island. The area was littered with mossy boulders, some of which featured sizable cracks running between them.

He spent a cautious half hour searching the isle for monsters. There were signs that some had moved through the region recently, but none that any of the predatory creatures were laired nearby. During the process, he caught his first animal inside the dungeon—a rodent that was big enough for two meals. I need to be careful how I prepare it, or the smell will give my position away.

By the time that Edge had finished exploring, he was satisfied that he had found a suitable base of operation. The cracks between the boulders were too narrow for most monsters to fit through, and a simple alarm trap could supplement his security—in case anything was able to sense him with Conceal running.

One of the crevices led to a modest cavity with an earthen floor that was relatively dry. He didn’t have a bolt hole, which was worrisome, but it was the closest thing to a proper shelter that he was likely to find inside the monster-ridden deathtrap known as the Savage Garden.

He still had a few hours before dark, so he decided to scout the region while his dinner was cooking. He couldn’t afford to grill the meat, since the smell would draw too much attention, but he knew an alternate means of preparing it—something that he had learned in one of his survival courses before transmitting his consciousness to Ord.

He built a ring of stones inside his shelter, then put two of the smokeless charcoal bricks in the middle. He used his magitech firestarter to set them alight, then got busy cooking. He skinned the rodent, then placed the meat on a stick hanging well above the charcoal, where the heat would turn it into jerky over the next few hours. It wasn’t a particularly appetizing meal, but it would stretch out his rations until he discovered an alternate source of sustenance.

It was also a good way to find out if anything with unusually sharp senses was lurking nearby, since this method reduced the odor of cooking meat, but didn’t eliminate it completely. Although, with any luck, his dinner would still be here when he got back. Maybe I can try fishing in the river. Somewhere too shallow for monsters to hide.

With that out of the way, Edge began to explore, staying away from the waterline as he used his spyglass to peer into the distance. He was thrilled to learn that the device worked with Penetrate Mist, just like it had with Penetrate Foliage. Probably because it’s a simple mechanical lens, instead of a magitech tool.

He discovered the lairs of several monsters as afternoon transitioned into evening, along with some crystals that he suspected were a valuable natural resource. He wasn’t close enough to take a good look, but he marked their locations on his map so that he could check them out later.

By the time that he started losing the light, he was ravenous. He made his way back to his shelter and was pleased to discover that nothing had purloined his dinner while he was away. His campfire jerky was crude and overcooked. It was bitter and stringy as hell but seemed safe enough to eat. He devoured half the meat and saved the rest for later.

Now that his belly was full, Edge set a few simple alarm traps along the approach to his island, then a few more in the crevice that led to his cave. They were simple devices that Trapper had taught him how to make—fashioned from an assembly of rocks, vines, and sticks that would rattle if anything disturbed them.

While his hands were busy, his mind was hard at work, pondering his situation and cobbling together a strategy. He had several ideas regarding the best way to cycle up, but there wasn’t any point in risking his life until he could grow from the process. He could still steal three skills a day using Extraction, but Absorbing random powers wasn’t going to cut it with the limited time at his disposal.

Edge desperately needed to evolve to stage two sometime within the next few days—ideally before the Rare auras finished digesting and forced him to make some hard choices regarding which skills he wanted to keep.

Evolving was vital to his survival in the short-term, and absolutely necessary if he were to have any chance of killing the dungeon’s boss before the jailbirds beat him to it. Not to mention, escaping if they found him in the meantime.

As with every other aspect of his core, the conditions for taking Skill-Eater to stage two were unique. Quite literally in this case. Edge had never even heard of a Unique skill before, and he had no idea whatsoever as to how he might to obtain one. Other than using his tokens and praying that he got lucky, he didn’t even know where to begin.

While he loved the idea of acquiring one, and was eager to find out what it could do, deciphering the mechanism for procuring a Unique skill felt like an insurmountable barrier—a wall placed inside a deadly trial that was already too much for him to handle with his current capabilities.

Edge contemplated the matter long and hard, working the problem over every way he could think of. In the end, drew a total blank.

Given his lack of information, he only had one idea to try—directly soliciting Skill-Eater for aid. It was in his core’s own interest to help him, and the ancient entity bound in black chains was certain have insights into magic, skills, and the other mysteries of Ord that were light-years beyond his own.

The problem was, they hadn’t spoken face-to-face since their last evolution, and the giant slumbered in a stasis-like state most of the time. While there had been several instances when it had roused in response to his need, each premature awakening had cost Skill-Eater greatly, which made him reluctant to request its assistance in all but the direst of circumstances.

On the other hand, dire sums up my situation nicely. Edge let out a long sigh. I don’t have a choice if I want to survive. It was time to pay Skill-Eater a visit, and hope that his Unique core could offer some expert advice.