[Skill-Eater 2] Chapter 82: Nightmare Fuel (Patreon)

Now that the decisive moment had arrived, Edge didn’t hesitate.

As the reverberations from his aural attack echoed across the marshlands, he charged down the narrow strip of soil with the point of his polearm leading the way. As he closed the final few feet, he ran his gaze over both monsters, judging the extent to which Intimidating Roar had affected them.

He could tell right away that while the frog was paralyzed, the flat monster wasn’t impeded at all. Understanding dawned as he considered its features, flooding his bloodstream with adrenaline as he came to grips with the evolving situation. It doesn’t have ears or antennae. A sound-based attack can’t touch it.

It was a nasty surprise, but not a worst-case scenario. The bizarre creature was injured, and its energetic reserves were running low. On the other hand, it was fully mobile, and Edge had just lost the element of surprise.

He picked up another two seconds to adjust his strategy when the black monster stopped to manifest a pair of blades that resembled a giant set of shears. It reached out and snipped the frog’s head from its shoulders as blood fell to the ground like rain. Then the creature turned and came skittering toward him as a living armory rose from its back.

Plan B it is. If Edge wanted to claim the skill that would help him evolve, he had to finish the fight the old-fashioned way. The problem was, this monster was unlike anything he’d battled before, not to mention, pure nightmare fuel.

The horror’s abyssal black body was only a few inches thick. It flowed across the ground smooth as silk—remarkably agile despite its strange shape. He wasn’t sure if it was a vertebrate, insectoid, or something more exotic, and the ambiguity made gauging the creature’s capabilities unusually tricky.

While its appearance was deeply unsettling, what really scared him was its skills. This monster could create weapons at will, rising from its surface as the mana flowing from its core assumed physical form. It could adjust its razored array to counter anything he tried, blocking his blows before engulfing him in a tide of ever-shifting blades.

During the fight with the frog, he’d seen it manifest swords and spears. Daggers and axes. Even something that looked like a chainsaw, which would cause catastrophic damage if it touched his flesh before he had time to Harden.

That being said, it wasn’t all bad news. Edge had longer reach with his naginata, and since the monster had low mass for its surface area, freezing it should be especially effective. It was faster while moving along the ground, but with Shadow Step and Leap, Edge had a slight advantage in maneuverability.

While the black monster was undeniably deadly, its true strength lay in a stealthy ambush. It doesn’t seem to have any ranged attacks either. Before it could close the distance, he reached down and detached his chakram from his belt, flinging the bone-and-brass ring after infusing it with Elemental Blade.

The walking arsenal stopped to deflect his weapon with two of its own, which shattered after touching the subzero chakram. Its mana sensitivity and spacial awareness are impressive, but it’s definitely weak against cold.

Edge added a layer of frigid mana to his naginata, then exchanged a series of blows when the monster came into range. Its weapons broke whenever they touched the chilled blade of the polearm.

Unfortunately, that was far from the only trick it knew. Before he had time to react, the monster formed a handlike projection and grabbed hold of the naginata’s shaft. It chittered in satisfaction, then yanked the weapon out of his grasp while sliding between his legs to unleash a heavy attack.

Oh hell no. He Leapt out of the way, but the monster flowed under him like an angry shadow, preparing to perforate him upon landing. Luckily, he had anticipated the move and was ready to counterattack.

He Hardened his legs before touching down, then drove both feet straight into the creature’s mass. Once his diamond-clad limbs pushed past the blades, the monster’s surface was surprisingly soft. He felt something crunch beneath his weight, before the creature screamed and pulled itself out from under him.

The move had the unfortunate side effect of sweeping Edge off his feet. As he fell onto his back and landed in the mud, the thing lunged at him with several blades at once. Luckily, he was already Shadow Stepping out of the way. He finished transforming half a heartbeat too slowly, and took some cuts on his arms, though his garax-leather armor absorbed most of the damage.

He was holding his own for now, but that wasn’t good enough. He was running low on mana and needed to end the fight before his reserves ran dry. After rematerializing, he scooped up his naginata, parried a pair of spear-like projections, then darted back to open some room while scanning his surroundings.

There. That will do. Edge Leapt as high as he could, landed on the limb of a tree, braced his feet against the trunk, then Leapt straight for the monster. This move is going to drain most of my mana. I really hope it works.

The rapid change in trajectory caught the creature by surprise. He Hardened his whole body at once as he hit the ground, burning through his reserves to protect himself from the collision. The screech of a dozen blades sliding against his scaled skin filled his ears, but he didn’t let it distract him.

He drove his naginata through the monster’s body, pinning it to the ground. But that was when Edge realized that he hadn’t tricked the skittering horror after all—it had lured him into making the attack.

It had coated one big blade with a field of Disruption—strong enough to weaken the diamond scales covering his face. If it wasn’t for the extra Durability that using Leap granted, the attack might have cut through his skull. While it saved him from an impromptu trepanation, what happened next was almost as bad.

Searing pain blossomed across his face as wet heat dribbled down his neck. When Edge wiped the blood away, half his vision remained dark. Fuck, it just sliced through my right eye.

This was a terrifying development, costing him half his field of view and impeding his depth perception. Since rank-two Regeneration could heal his organs, he would still be ok, if he survived the fight and had a chance to recover.

He forced his attention back to the battle. He couldn’t afford to focus on the injury—the monster was already working his polearm free. While it was still pinned in place, he conjured his iceblade, then comboed it with Double Slash.

The move caught the creature by surprise, shearing through its manifested limbs before sinking deep into its tissue. He ducked down low and hit it again—a sweeping strike that skimmed along the ground, carving through the legion of feet beneath its black body.

Edge almost struck a third time before he remembered that he wasn’t trying to kill it... yet. The mortally-wounded monster tried to scamper away, but with half its limbs shattered and more of them frozen, it didn’t have a chance. He pushed past the pain, reached out with both arms, and willed Extraction to activate.

This time, he didn’t try to enter the monster’s core. He was too exhausted to risk exposing himself to the corruption inside and needed to steal the skill before his foe expired. Dealer’s choice. Go claim that power you wanted. The black chains were eager to hunt and launched out of his wrists like they were spring-loaded.

To his dismay, the monster’s skill put up one hell of a fight. The living links were defeated after a fierce exchange—one of the few occasions that they didn’t prevail on the first try. Fortunately, he had one final charge of Extraction, and the battle within had weakened the flat creature. He stabbed it with his naginata as deeply as he dared, crossed his fingers, then sent the black chains back in for another round. Good luck. I’m counting on you.

There was a nerve-wracking moment where he wasn’t sure what would happen. But then Edge felt a surge of triumph conducting through the chains before they pulled something free from the monster’s core, just as it twitched and breathed its last.

He caught a glimpse of living metal before they flung the skill between his jaws, then retreated through his wrists to nurse their wounds. Given everything that had happened up to this point, he wasn’t surprised when it resumed the fight inside his mouth.

Swords and spikes. Hammers and spears. Countless weapons did their best to tear their way out. But Edge had already Hardened his jaws and met their assault in kind, breaking down the ever-shifting blades with his teeth.

This skill tasted like steel and blood. Of killing his enemies in a thousand different ways. After one last crunch, it dissolved into goo, then slid down his throat to enter his core.

You have extracted the skill: Manifest Weapon <versatile> (Uncommon, Rank 3).

Digestion is complete.

Would you like to slot Manifest Weapon now?

That was when Edge realized he had a problem.

He didn’t have room to slot Manifest Weapon, and the System would only give him a few minutes at most before he lost the chance to claim it. He didn’t want to give up any of his other skills or waste a merger token, although he was willing to do it if there wasn’t a better option.

While there was still time on the clock, he entered his core and ran over to his skill garden while calling out to Chibime. “I found the skill that the black chains wanted, but I don’t know what to do next. If you have any ideas, I could really use your advice.”

By now, the array of malleable blades was starting to fade away. Even with the time dilation inside his core, he only had a few seconds left. While Edge debated whether to give up Leap or Regulate Temperature, Chibime came running over to his side. The miniature version of himself pointed to Manifest Weapon, then gestured frantically to Entangle.

Skill-Eater said to create a power that is true to true the chains’ nature. How can I make Manifest Weapon more like a chain… That’s it! He reached into his belt pouch, pulled out the Skill-Merger Token, and sent his intentions into the System. “I want to merge Entangle and Manifest Weapon!”

For a moment, he was afraid that he couldn’t use the token on a power that wasn’t socketed into a skill slot. But apparently, having digested it was good enough. The squirming ball of ever-shifting blades became solid once more as the tangle of snaking vines representing Engage slithered over to its position. The token rose from his palm, floated between the skills, and began to spin. Soon, both avatars were shining so brightly that Edge couldn’t look directly at them.

When the lightshow faded away, he found himself staring at a strand of liquid steel. It was long and thin like the vines conjured by Entangle, but the end kept morphing into a variety of blades. The surface was highly reflective, like the whole thing was made of quicksilver.

Now that the skill was socketed, he could sense that these killing-tools were more responsive than those conjured by Manifest Weapon. That in addition to controlling them with his mind, he could direct them to change shape at will or fight without requiring his conscious command.

Edge’s Guide had detached from his chest to hover beside his face, then it flattened to display his updates.

Congratulations.

The skills: Entangle (Common, Rank 3) and Manifest Weapon <versatile> (Uncommon, Rank 3) have been successfully merged into a new skill.

The damage-resistance bonus from Entangle has been preserved.

Your new skill is: Animate Weapon <versatile> (Rare, Rank 3).

You may manifest the weapon of your choice and control it with your will. It can also be automated and obey simple commands. If this weapon is destroyed, you may not use the skill again for 24 hours.

He felt a surge of triumph that was tempered by the pain of his wounds. Edge was eager to move on to the next stage of the process—figuring out how to change his new Rare skill into something unique.

But he couldn’t afford to do it here.

While time passed slowly in his core, it would be insane to linger in the area while he was severely injured, especially after using Intimidating Roar. The mana-laden soundwave was guaranteed to draw the attention of every monster in the area, and he needed to be gone before they arrived.