[Skill-Eater 2] Chapter 112: Summer’s Fury (Patreon)

When Edge overpowered the Gardener’s domain, the rain ceased to fall, leaving his view of the chamber clear.

Half of the remaining monsters had either drowned during the deluge or bled out after being shredded by the bamboo’s lethal thorns. The rest were cowering within the ruins—the desire for mayhem beaten out of them while enduring the merciless downpour.

His team was still recovering from the cold snap, although it hadn’t lasted long enough to seriously harm anyone. One-Eye took advantage of the opportunity to nock an arrow to his bowstring. He let loose and fired, aiming for the final Claw huddling in the corner. The missile planted itself in the jailbird’s throat, removing the man from the fight.

Meanwhile, Edge watched the Gardener cross the chamber while getting ready to make his move. That was when something inexplicable occurred. A specter emerged from the boss’s emaciated body—a ghostly double of a woman that lacked any of its monstrous features.

The Gardener came to a stop when the ethereal figure appeared, screaming and shaking like it was engaged in an intense struggle. It was so distracted that the team was able to land a round of ranged attacks—bolts and arrows perforating its patchwork-leather armor and biting into the tissue below.

A few seconds later, the strange duplicate was pulled back into the boss’s body, and the ruddy gem embedded in its chest began glowing brighter still. As thick flows of mana surged out from the monster’s core, Edge realized that its domain was running again but had taken on a different aspect.

The season shifted from spring to summer. The Gardener’s words mean something after all. Going by the song it sang, we’re going to have to deal with heat next. On a brighter note, its reservoir is draining again. That insane Generation must have been tied to its springtime manifestation.

He called out to let his team know what was happening as they fell into formation beside him, then the crew got ready for the next round to begin.

The ground was covered in icy mud and frozen blood, but it began to thaw as the temperature soared with every breath Edge took. Soon, it was so hot that the air wavered and bent, and after the moisture finished baking out of the soil, the air was so dry that his tongue felt like leather.

The boss was still floating as it closed the distance between them. Although its movements were slower, its advance seemed as inevitable as dusk following dawn.

It was clear from the next exchange of blows that the creature’s fighting style had changed, just like Skill-Eater had warned. Instead of being overbearing and fluid, these attacks were ponderous and contained incredible destructive potential.

The Gardener’s bone claymore was crude compared to its other weapons, but it was just as deadly. He dodged vicious swipes that were strong enough to shatter his scales and break every bone in his body. If I take a direct hit, it’s going to be game over.

Byron and Setna darted out of the way of an overhand slash that cratered the ground between them and nearly knocked Edge to his knees.

“Its Generation dropped, but its Power just skyrocketed.” Setna put words to what he was sensing. “And its Heatwave is getting stronger by the second. If it’s as intense as the Monsoon, we won’t have long before it gets too hot to fight. We need to kill the Gardener or counter its domain before that happens.”

“Keep away,” One-Eye yelled—the signal the crew had agreed on to change up their formation. Instead of trading blows, whoever the boss was targeting would focus purely on evasion while everyone else dished out as much damage as they could.

While Setna dodged a diagonal slice that would have cut her in half, Edge retrieved his naginata and let loose with Double Slash. Byron fired bolt after bolt from his crossbow, trying to keep the boss distracted while injecting it with poison. One-Eye was using his longbow to target the monster’s joints, hoping to land a hit that would impair its mobility.

The creature only avoided a fraction of the crew’s attacks after changing techniques, but it seemed more annoyed by the wounds than anything else.

When Byron almost got caught by a wicked horizontal swipe, Edge realized that the heat had grown oppressive enough to start slowing them down. He stepped in to take the shadowkiller’s place, weaving his way between a ruthless series of strikes that would have ended his day in the worst possible way.

The other monsters wilted by the heartbeat, huddling in the shade as the boss’s magic baked the moisture from their bodies. Soon, everyone else was forced to retreat, leaving Edge to face Gardener alone as its Heatwave grew stronger with every breath he took.

He reached for his bandolier, then downed his Endurance and Durability potions back-to-back, granting him a boost that let him withstand the boss’s onslaught while keeping its focus centered on him.

The other hunters could barely move as their organs threatened to shut down. They were holding on using a combination of Disruption and magitech devices, but they couldn’t keep it up for long.

Sweat poured down Edge’s face as the monster’s ponderous strikes came closer and closer to cleaving him in twain. He switched to Elemental Blade, using his infused polearm as an air conditioner to keep his skin from frying like bacon in a pan.

Even with Regulate Temperature running and the potions bolstering his attributes, he could only endure the scorching air for a few more minutes at most. His efforts had kept his blood from boiling, but he was running out of time.

The Heatwave was brutal, and his body would give out before the boss’s reservoir ran dry. If only Regulate Temperature were rank three, it might be enough to turn the tide.

That thought gave Edge an idea. He scanned the battlefield while dodging the boss’s blade, searching for a monster that seemed unaffected by the severe heat.

There. Lurking behind the wall of what had once been a house was a creature that looked like a wingless wasp. The monster was wounded and weary, but it was weathering the extreme temperature with no appreciable difficulty.

Gambling that it was armed with a skill that could help him survive, Edge led the Gardener all the way over to the far corner of the chamber. Then he Shadow Stepped and darted away, appearing behind the wasp before it knew he was there.

He scored a Double Slash along its flank, cutting through its exoskeleton and into the organs below. Before the monster expired from the grievous wound, he reached out with both arms and activated his ultimate ability. Extraction.

The black chains slithered out of his wrists in a clinking flash, then dove into the insect’s core. Being out of his body for even a second could cost him his life with the Gardener following hot on his heels—not to mention the other monsters scattered across the battlefield. But under the circumstances, he didn’t have a choice, and Edge followed the living links into the wasp’s central chamber.

He ran his gaze across a petrified forest that was filled with sinkholes and other lethal hazards, scanning the inner world as quickly as he could. Soon, he spotted a familiar skill. Its avatar took a different form than his own version, but he knew at a glance that it was Regulate Temperature.

Edge ordered his chains to steal it, then stepped back into his body… just in time to dive beneath the oversized claymore the boss had hurled his way. Stones pelted his armor as the ruins behind him exploded, leaving scrapes and bruises that healed a heartbeat after they formed.

As he rolled back onto his feet and scrambled for cover, his chains emerged and flung the skill avatar into his mouth. He chewed and swallowed as fast as he could—too distracted to appreciate the flavor as the Gardener floated over to retrieve its massive weapon.

The instant the pureed power entered his core, a message from the System appeared.

You have extracted the skill: Regulate Temperature <aura> (Uncommon, Rank 4).

You already have this skill in your collection.

Its experience will be added to your existing skill.

He couldn’t afford to oversee the merger with the Gardener headed his way, but Edge sensed it when the power he’d stolen flowed into own version. He sighed with relief when another update appeared a few seconds later.

The skill (Regulate Temperature) has advanced to rank 3.

Its mana efficiency has been enhanced.

Upon reaching rank 3, you may control the volume of mana the skill consumes, adjusting its output at will.

The instant Regulate Temperature’s advancement was complete, Edge flared the skill as hard as he could, increasing its drain and upping its output. Although the sweltering heat hadn’t lessened, salvation swept through him as the upgraded power dramatically improved his tolerance to extreme temperatures.

He stopped sweating and returned to full alertness—thrilled that his organs were no longer in danger of shutting down. Even though he was flaring Regulate Temperature, the cost was relatively low compared to his other powers, especially with the latest enhancement to its efficiency. I should be able to endure the Gardener’s Heatwave without draining my reservoir dry.

That being said, the situation was still touch and go. His potions wouldn’t last much longer, and his team was in trouble. While Edge was a bit quicker than his opponent, one wrong move would leave him broken and battered. He conjured a fresh Warlord’s Mantle, giving him a bit more room to breathe.

The boss was weaker while was transitioning from spring to summer, and the rest of the crew can’t fight like this. I need to counter its domain and move on to the next season before it’s too late.

He couldn’t think of any way to counteract Heatwave’s fiery mana other than to keep whaling away with Elemental Blade and hope his cold could prevail against the heat. However, his strikes didn’t seem to cause any lasting damage. Even when he landed a hit that froze part of the monster’s body, the merciless summer scorcher thawed it again.

But then Edge noticed that the Gardener’s gem was dimming with every infusion of arctic energy. It’s working after all. I just need to keep this up a little longer.

No sooner had that thought crossed his mind than the butt of his polearm touched the bamboo wall. He had been so focused on evading the monster’s strikes and countering its domain, that he’d failed to notice it had been methodically driving him into a corner over the course of their last exchange.

The boss’s gigantic claymore came sweeping around as it tore through the air, and Edge couldn’t retreat with his back to the wall. He Leapt over the first swing, but the monster spun in place and sent the weapon screaming around for another pass—timed to land before he hit the ground.

He was afraid of what would happen if he Shadow Stepped and the boss let loose a Disruption pulse. Instead, he Hardened his entire body a second before impact. The bone sword passed through his mantle and hit him like a bladed wrecking ball, sending him flying. His diamond scales shattered like glass, breaking the ribs below.

On the bright side, the boost from the potions combined with his skills kept him from being bisected or shredded to ragged ribbons of flesh against the bamboo’s razored thorns.

Regeneration pulled his sundered bones together as Edge flared the skill and rose to his feet—just in time to see the monster heading for his team. He pushed past the pain and Leapt twice back-to-back, desperate to reach the others before it was too late.

He manifested Foebinder along the way and sent the chain of oblivion lashing out to wrap around the claymore’s hilt, preventing the boss from swinging while pulling himself toward it.

Edge landed on the monster’s shoulders as it struggled to unleash a lethal overhead chop. He had let go of his polearm and conjured his iceblade midflight, driving it between the creature’s shoulders before it could let loose its might.

The Gardener screamed as it flung him off its back, giving the others a chance to stagger away. They were barely able to remain upright beneath the onslaught of its domain. Luckily, they wouldn’t have to endure the Heatwave much longer.

While glancing blows only sapped a fraction of the domain’s power, the direct infusion of subzero mana was enough to end its reign. The gem implanted in the boss’s chest stopped shining before changing colors again, shifting to the brown of fallen leaves.

“Summer is over,” Setna called out, recovering rapidly as the temperature began to plummet. “The next domain is wind, and the boss’s attribute bonus will probably be Speed.”

“My poison isn’t working,” Snake added. “I don’t think it has any blood to circulate the toxins.”

Edge knew they couldn’t afford to let the Gardener set the pace any longer, or the hunters would be ground to dust beneath the turning of the seasons. The crew had to figure out a way to flip the script while they could fight at full strength.

This time, I need to interrupt its domain before it kicks in or we’re all going to die.