Dead Gardens - Chapter 8

‘What the…’

I took a step back when I noticed a red flashing light at the edge of my vision. I also noticed a flashing red cursor pointing somewhere on my left side outside of my line of sight. I followed where the cursor was pointing and saw something bizarre.

Beside a rather bushy buloke stood a dark-skinned man almost thrice my size. Long ragged curly black hair, sunken unblinking eyes, and trunk-like hairy skin, the entity looked down at me with a gaze filled with indignation. He leaned on the highest branch of the poor thin buloke while puffing on a thick cigar. A burning piece of paper formed an orange ember wisp that flew around his head, and thick smoke hid the right side of his face. With the way he casually slumped his body on that tree, it looked as if he had been there for a while, but how come I never noticed him? Could a man as gigantic as this one really manage to sneak up on me… and Dominion?

<He’s not attacking yet. Take this advantage. Use your “analyze” skill, Aleph.>

That’s right! Without even a second thought, I uttered the word “ANALYZE!” And sure enough, the translucent blue textbox popped in front of me, pointing at the giant’s face.

|Name: Abad’delah

|Classification: (1) Entity, (2) Alive [VS], (3) Meat, (4) Kapre, (5) ???

| Status:

|STR: 58

|VIT: 110

|DEX: 9

|WIS: 17

‘Did your System seriously just called this guy a “Meat?”‘

<Of course. Every living thing that can be turned into meat will obviously be classified as one.

‘That’s a bit harsh, isn’t it?’

<No, it isn’t; it’s practical. Enough about that, notice a few differences here, Aleph. When you analyze something classified as an “Entity,” the System will show their (4) mark as their race instead of their rarity. As you can see, this guy is a Kapre, a native race here on the Dead Gardens, particularly in Edge of the World. That alone is worrying, but I’m even warier of his (5) mark.>

‘I noticed. It looks like this guy answers to an unknown god.’

<Exactly. My System only knows about the five other gods of Firmament and me. Whoever this kapre worships… I don’t know them. It looks like a new god had emerged in Dead Gardens. And he’s hellbent on converting my people.>

‘Y-your people? You mean this kapre is one of yours?’

<Once. But look at its eyes. The kapres are gentle but firm beings, dignified and kind. This one? I don’t know him, and the anger in his eyes is foreign to me as well, almost as if he’s spellbound. We cannot know for sure, but we do know that an unknown god had held his soul hostage. And I cannot stand by that, mainly because circumstances like this arise due to my absence; I am partly responsible for this phenomenon. But the true god of this land had returned. Aleph, destroy this creature! This “new god” must know that the rightful ruler of this land had returned, and meddlers like them are no longer welcome!>

‘Aye, aye, sire! But there’s just one problem…’

<Hmm?>

‘I don’t have a weapon.’

<I… JUST PUNCH HIM, MY GUY! He’s just waiting for you to strike first; just punch him and get it over with!>

‘Have you seen his VIT stat? This guy’s CRAZY sturdy. I can’t just punch him. I’d need a better plan than that.’

Dominion wanted to scream at me more, but his voice was interrupted when the kapre had suddenly released a deafening roar. Then, he slowly raised his body from the tree he was leaning on, and… yep, he’s definitely thrice my size.

‘I don’t know who you think I am, Dominion, but I’m just a rich guy who somehow became a noble after inventing some stuff for Firmament’s wars. I know my way in battle, but I am more comfortable sitting in the backline rather than the one rushing head-on. So I ask you again, do you have a better plan?’

<Tsk. Point your hand on one of those trees and say, “HARVEST.”>

I didn’t waste time. “HARVEST!” I shouted while pointing my palm on the tree nearest the kapre, who’s now battle-ready before me.

When I did so, the tree I selected suddenly disappeared, flabbergasting the kapre and making it step backward with a confused grunt. Then, a few texts popped at the bottom left side of my vision. “+10 logs” and “+3 mana.”

<Now, say CREATE.>

“CREATE!” I screamed. This time, the kapre was already rushing towards me.

A rectangular textbox popped at the top of my vision. There I saw the following:

|Wooden Sword: Need 3 logs, 1 mana (stats vary on Raw Material used)

|Wooden Bow: Need 3 logs, 1 string, 1 mana (stats vary on Raw Material used)

|Wooden Shield: Need 5 logs, 1 mana (stats vary on Raw Material used)

|Wooden Spear: Need 5 logs, 1 mana (stats vary on Raw Material used)

|Blood Serum: Need 20 drops of blood, 500 mana

<Just say which one of those you wanna make!>

Thankfully, the kapre has no weapons either. But with arms bigger than mine, I’m pretty sure I’d still die once he landed a punch on me, even with the armor I have on. I managed to dodge, but only barely. That 13 Dexterity stat is really paying off nicely, but I can’t just keep dashing out of his way forever. Soon, he’d hit me, and I should not be the one dying in that instance.

Panicking, I made my decision, “WOODEN SWORD.”

Sure enough, once I’ve uttered those words, a wooden sword magically popped in front of me and floated midair till I grabbed its hilt with my gloved hands. A small text then appeared at the lower left side of my vision again. “+1 Wooden Sword,” “-3 logs,” and “-1 mana.”

The kapre struck again! His fist fell in a crescent-shaped swoop and landed squarely on the ground, forming cracks and disturbing the dust. Since I look more like a grasshopper compared to his size, the kapre had to squat for a bit whenever he strikes.

He targeted me again with another one of his punches. I managed to move away, but the impact of his downward swoop had enough force to push me backward. Luckily, the kapre’s fist got stuck on the ground, and it took him a while to pull it back up; I used this opportunity to retaliate! I swung my sword on his wrist; blood started gushing out of his skin, but it looked more like I just slashed him with a kitchen knife. The kapre just grunted in return and looked at his wound with a confused expression.

Fuck.

THAT DID NOTHING!

I looked down at my sword and said, “ANALYZE.” What popped up is precisely what I expected.

|Buloke Wooden Sword

|Classification: (1) Wood, (2) Non-Living [W], (3) Sword

| Status:

|STR: 3

|VIT: 5

My weapon only has 3 Strength stats, and my opponent has more than a hundred Vitality…

OF COURSE, THIS USELESS TWIG WILL DO NOTHING!

What was I thinking?

<Chin up, Aleph. Of course, it does something. Use your ANALYZE skill on the kapre again.>

I did as Dominion counseled and immediately saw what he was referring to:

|Name: Abad’delah

|Classification: (1) Entity, (2) Alive [VS], (3) Meat, (4) Kapre, (5) ???

| Status:

|STR: 58

|VIT: 110 (-36)

|DEX: 9

|WIS: 17

<Your strikes are weakening his Vitality stat. It looks like Gres’ body has 33 Strength. I don’t even know why you needed that useless goddamn sword. You should have just punched him to death. You’re capable of defeating this kapre with just a single punch thanks to Gres’ body. Luckily, this idiot has no armor, so you don’t have to collapse anything first before killing him.>

‘And it took you this long to explain that because?’

<BECAUCE IT’S ALREADY SELF-EXPLANATORY, YOU EEH-DYEUGHT! Haa… Just a few strikes more, and he’s a goner! Here, let me help you.>

As Dominion uttered those words, three red circles appeared around the kapre’s body. One on his neck, another on his left breast, and another one on his groin.

<Those red marks are the enemy’s weak point. Hit those, and your damage will double. Hit all of them at the same time, and your total damage will triple.>

‘So you do have a plan, BUT YOU’RE JUST NOW SAYING IT!?’

<I’M SORRY, OKAY! I DIDN’T THINK OF IT SOON! Quit the screaming; start the stabbing! GO, GO, GO!>

I waited for my opportunity. I can stab the mark on the kapre’s neck if I used my earth spell, but I’m not sure if Gres’ body has enough mana to use it. I’d probably be able to have a chance of hitting his chest, but the obvious answer here is definitely to strike his groin. I remembered earlier how he had to fold his legs a bit just so he could punch me. I should exploit that.

I banged the hilt of my wooden sword on my armor’s breastplate (or would it be better if I said it’s Gres’ armor instead? It’s really hard to get used to this body swap thing.) I remember that this is what Firmamentian soldiers do to provoke their enemies. I kept smashing my sword handle on my breastplate till the kapre growled and ran towards me with booming steps.

Sure enough, the kapre crouched first before striking downward. I dashed forward to dodge and stabbed upward to bust his crotch. The kapre let out a blood-curdling cry of utter agony that fulminated into the air.

“YES!” I yelled out loud as I yanked my sword out of the kapre’s testicles. Blue blood spurt out of it like a faucet leaking out of control.

<SUCCESS! With this, this bastard is definitely–ALEPH, WATCH OUT!>

Dominion’s warning came late. Before I could anticipate what he was cautioning me about, the kapre’s palm had already hit my side. My armor folded, my ribs cracked, my insides churned upside down. And for a moment, it seemed like time had slowed down until it went into a total halt. My senses suddenly went through a complete shutdown: strange light blurred the center of my vision, I couldn’t feel any pain, but I could hear a loud ringing in my eardrums. Funnily enough, my sense of taste is the only thing that remained, forcing me to taste a rust-like flavor; it’s ironic since I bit my tongue.

“Guh…”

And then, time moved again.

BAM!

My body flew into the air in a circular motion, stopping only when my back hit a tree. I knelt on the ground with blood spewing out of my mouth; I winced as the ache in my ribs jolted me upward.

This fucking sucks. I should have been more careful than this; I am much, much better than this. The Von Erich family is known for many things, but we are not fools who easily lose focus. Is this an effect of my merging with Gres? Ugh… I can’t think straight. I need to reclaim my usual sharp senses. Shit… My ancestors are definitely frowning at me.

‘Hey, Dominion…’

<…Yes, Aleph?>

‘Can your System show how much HP my enemy and I have left?’

Dominion didn’t even utter a reply; he just did as I requested and showed a green bar at the upper left part of my vision; a similar looking bar had also appeared above the kapre’s head.

<There. The one in the upper-left is your Vitality stat. The one above the kapre is his.>

I looked at my health bar. 30 Vitality points left. Meanwhile, the kapre only have…

Two.

If I do the math correctly, it seems like Gres’s body has 30 VIT. Adding the 73 VIT on his armor, he had a total of 103 VIT.

The kapre’s palm can decimate me. But one slash from my stick and this guy is a goner.

“This pisses me off…”

I winced and groaned as I felt my vision blurring with my body wobbling to and fro. I feel like my consciousness is leaving me.

Then, I felt a light tap on my shoulders.

“You got this, Aleph.” I heard his voice, but this time, it’s not in my head.

“D-Dominion…?”

A naked petite, pale man with curly auburn hair suddenly appeared behind me, floating around my shoulders with a blazing gaze, further accentuated by his freckled face.

“Breathe, my avatar. This is just the first step of many. We can survive this. We will survive this.” Dominion’s usual feminine but angry tone is now deeper and much, much gentler.

He’s right. I stood up, grabbed my sword handle with both my hands, and poised myself to battle.

“Human’s eyes are garbage,” Dominion whispered. “but no swiftness can overpower a god’s eyes. Strike. Don’t worry. You will evade his blows. Believe in your god.”