Irregular - Chapter 18

After they defeated the Jurgor, they made quick work of its hide, Tinkman was showing Talin how to skin the creature while keeping the hide undamaged. The rest was being lectured by Grimli about what they did right and could do better, Orma the priest took a look at Three’s arm but was surprised by how far the regeneration had already progressed, he cast a relatively minor heal spell to aid the progress. The journey back the group was discussing which skills they wanted to rank up.

“I’m going to rank up my Ogre’s Strength.” Emmi told them.

“It grows passively and I looked up what it ranks up into, it becomes Ogre’s might, granting me double the strength per skill level, it also reduces the weight of worn armour. To a fourth maximum, I think ranking up the skill as early as possible would be most profitable for me.”

Grimli nodded approvingly, “It be a good skill to rank up early.”

“Lesser regeneration for me!” Sumi said, “It restores my mana faster as well, so I can throw infinite fire arrows, like KAPOW!” punching the air a few times she grinned at them.

“I shall rank up aim.” Talin said, “It will become unerring accuracy, it will give me a new stat, perception. It will increase my scouting proficiency and make my shots far more accurate.”

Tinkman nodded proudly, “Yup elfie here is going to become a fearsome shot!”

“I’m not sure yet, thought I’d rank up sneaking.” Davis said scratching his chin. “I really wish we could rank up weapon mastery skills.”

“What skills do ya have.” Grimli asked.

“Twin fang, Sneak, Axe mastery, Dual Wielding mastery and Backstab.”

“Backstab!” Tinkman yelled. “Backstab is a rare skill to have in the top three skills, if ya rank it up ya can teleport behind yer enemies once every ten minutes orso, it becomes a powerful move called Shadow Strike.”

“Teleporting huh,” Davis muttered scratching his stubble, “Sounds good to me guess i will go for it.”

“I will go for Iron skin, my regeneration is already effective I want to try ranking it up without using the point I get from leveling.” Three tapped his chin, “I’m hoping to find something that I can use to passively level it over time, I thought perhaps I should just put a sharp nail in my shoulder.”

“You want to put a nail in your shoulder, are you insane?” Emmi said staring at him.

Three blinked, “I can turn the pain of in the selected area should it bother me, pain of this level wouldn’t bother me anyways.” He shrugged, then muttered. “Perhaps poison would be more effective, I bet there is a skill for that as well.”

Emmi threw her hands up in the air, muttering about boys and insanity.

Tinkman walked over to him and they started discussing several poisons that would not bother him with his regeneration rate yet would be effective and lasted long enough that it would increase his skill proficiency.

Eventually they decided on a proper poison to start with, taking out his tools Tinkman started working on it during the trip, gathering the ingredients on the way. Eventually he had a batch mixed up, he called the poison Cotton Wish. It had no cotton, nor anything to with a wish and when Three asked where the name came from Tinkman told him he honestly had no idea, he shrugged and gave him the poison.

“You feelin it?” The halfling asked.

“I feel a little light in my head.” Three answered.

“Most people would be puking their guts out right about now so your body seems to be handling it well!” Tinkman said whilst slapping his back.

They talked some more about the effects of poison and before he knew it they had reached the village again and stood in front of the adventurers guild.

Everyone ran in to get their rank ups, marveling at the changes it had on their bodies. Three got his upgrade and Emmi and Davis were impressed by his toughness when they slammed their weapons into his back to see if they could do any damage. Emmi managed to make a decent cut using her Slice ability with her new Ogre’s Might, Davis didn’t manage to do any damage at all. Happy with their new upgrades they headed back to their house, the hunting had taken up most of the day and night was falling. Emmi’s mother prepared another delicious meal, Emmi was animatedly telling the story of their fight with the Jurgor, Captain Tulo listening to his daughter with a small proud smile. Soon enough night had fallen, Sumi and Emmi were learning some stitching techniques and such from Emmi’s mother.

Three told them they shouldn’t wait up for him as he would be heading out, the rest nodded getting back to their needle work.

Tonight he would go hunting by himself, the fight against the Jurgor had made his lack of strength apparent and he would make sure to grow stronger.

Three stepped out of the village, letting the guard who always took night duty at the north gate, a man called Lem, know he was heading out and would return later. Lem nodded and let him out, telling him to watch himself.

Three stepped out into the northern wilderness, he had not yet gotten himself a new shield and had even decided to leave his hammer behind, a foolish idea most would say. He simply wanted to match his power against the creature that traversed the world on their strengths, their own terms. He envied them for this, he wanted similar power, he would take this power, tonight in the darkness under a moonlit sky, he would venture into the world of monsters, in an attempt to become one himself.

Three made his way through the thickening forest, a good hour or two away from the village. He had asked Tinkman many questions about the species of creatures that lived around these parts, many interested him. For the first time he was glad of his lack of need for sleep, he had hidden it from his family and his party. The others still needed their sleep like regular people, he however, did not. A side effect of his core he supposed. He shook his head, ridding his head of thoughts as he paid more attention to the ground and the area around him. It did not take him long to find tracks, Warmors. He grinned, a good opponent to test his strength on, Warmors were the bottomfeeders of the northern wilderness. Small, covered in white fur, they resembled rats in their mannerisms. Their appearance had more of a smilarity with a small wolf and a sabertooth. Smaller than the a dog they were no threat for average monsters, until they attacked in packs. What he found here were plants and tracks trampling everything into the ground. There had to be atleast a few dozen of the creatures.

Three clenched his fists as he followed the tracks further into the wilderness. He cautiously made his way forward, eyes sliding from one side to the other, searching for any sign of movement. A hiss made him twist, he stared one of the Warmors right in its beady red eyes. He spread his gaze around to see he had been surrounded by at least forty of the creatures. They all started hissing, the sound melding together into a soft, thrumming whisper through-out the forest. Three grinned and rolled his shoulders, he took a fighting stance and a deep breath, inflating his chest. Once he filled his lungs to capacity he let rip a roar of defiance that caused the Warmors around him to flinch and freeze for the briefest of moments.

The creatures started hissing louder, agitated by the fact their prey dared fight back. A Warmor to his left took the initiative, leaping at him, its teeth bared. Three grinned, he threw his shoulder back and rammed his fist right into its mouth. The creature, eager at the opportunity clenched its jaws, determined to rip his arm off. Its teeth struggled to get through his newly attained Titanium Skin. Three in a moment of psychotic genius twisted his hand, wrapping his fingers around the creatures spine. The creature squealed as his fingers penetrated innards to wrap itself around the spinal column. Its brethren raced at him to help their hurt pack-mate. With a squeeze he shattered its spine, the creature going limp. He retracted his hand, covered in its dark crimson blood.

Its brethren hissed enraged at seeing their brother fall, their fangs snapping at his arms and legs. They did not have the power to pierce his skin, he curled his fingers making a fist and started smashing into anything that moved around him. A Warmor jumped at his face, he grabbed both sides of its jaws and ripped them apart. Another lept for his neck, he spun around, twisting his body, his left heel gaining speed and smashing into the creature. Another gnawed at his ankle, he smashed its spine with a stomp. Another was closeby, Stomp, its brains splattered over the grass. He spun around throwing his fists and feet, even using his teeth at one point to devastate the ranks of creatures attacking him. Soon enough the creatures started backing off, hissing now not in anger, but in fear at the blood soaked creature they had mistaken for prey.

With a screech they scattered back into the forest, leaving a blood soaked maniac smiling, eyes surveying the destruction he had caused. It felt good to fight those who attacked him, to squash them as they tried to harm him. It felt right! He rolled his shoulders as he wiped the blood from his eyes. It was not yet enough, he yearned for more, he needed stronger opponents. He walked deeper into the forest, searching for monsters that would prove more of a challenge.

So lost was he in his search for battle that he never even noticed the announcement that appeared.

[Skill: Aura of Fear gained]

[Due to users genetic compatibility Aura of Fear has evolved into Dreadfull Presence]

Not even knowing of the aura that wrapped itself around him, so dark it was nearly palpable, he headed deeper into the forest. Searching for something he knew would be a true challenge, he saw tracks of more Warmor packs but disregarded them. They had not provided him with a proper fight, that was when he came upon familiar tracks. A Jurgor, an opponent that had proven itself to be too much for him earlier today. He smiled, unaware of his fearsome appearence with his blood soaked clothes and dreadful presence.

He followed the tracks through the wilderness, not bothering to hide his presence. His steps cracked twigs, and rustled leaves, he was loud enough to be heard from far away. He did not care, he was not here to hunt, he was here to challenge. The noise he made daring the Jurgor to come and protect its domain, he saw the claw marks on the tree, proving that he had indeed entered its territory. A roar heralded his next opponent, as a Jurgor even larger than the last approached him from across the clearing. It sported white scales yet instead of the usual black fur, this one had crimson fur, with crimson patterns framing its scales. Once he read the tag he new the difference.

[Crimson Jurgor, Mutant Lvl : ???]

A rare mutated version, its level had to be atleast ten above his. He grinned, licking his teeth, just the opponent he had been looking for.

The Jurgor roared at him, angry at the cocky intruder that was challenging it. Three filled his lungs and roared a challenge of his own. He flexed his muscles, sending the familiar flow of power into them, his muscles rippled and flexed as they grew. He smashed his hand into his fist and charged. The Jurgor roared and raced forward to accept his challenge, the two smashed into each other, a mesh of teeth, fists, fur, scales and flesh. The jurgor managed to cut through his skin, leaving shallow cuts wherever it slashed. Three’s fists were doing damage as well, leaving dents and small bruises on its scales. It snapped at his neck with its teeth, Three used all the strength he could muster to keep it at bay, he worked his legs underneath its stomach and vaulted the creature over him, where it smashed into the ground. It rolled back unto its feet and growled. Three jumped back to his own feet and snarled, flexing his hands. The Jurgor charged, Three rolled his shoulders and met it fist first, his fist smashed into its jaw, the Jurgor shook its head to recover from the blow. Three not giving it any reprieve smashed his fists into whatever he could reach.

The creature howled in pain but recovered, spinning around and slamming its tail into Three’s stomach with enormous force. He sailed through the air his back smashing into a tree, its bark splintering upon impact. He spit onto the snow, red splatter marking its flawless white surface. He looked up, surprised to see it was snowing. The Jurgor growled at him, angry that its opponent was taking his attention off it. The monster roared and charged once more, its claws flinging the newly fallen snow into the air. Three shook his head, getting his senses back and smashed into the creature. He lost the battle of momentum and was smashed into the ground, where the Jurgor was doing its utmost to turn the snow crimson with its foes blood.

Its claws tearing first shallow, then deeper furrows into his skin. Three hissed in anger as he started smashing his fist repeatedly into the creatures ribcage, he felt the bone slowly giving way to his blows. His regeneration working overtime trying to close up the wounds. His tough body and skin the only things keeping every attack from being a fatal one. Three, disregarding the danger he was in, smashed his fist into the creatures rib cage time and time again, finally after a series of punches, so many that he had lost count, he felt the bone snap, the creature howled in pain and jumped off him, glaring. Three scrambled to his feet, the snow colored crimson beneath him, he pawed the snow with his bare feet feeling the cold ice and the dirt beneath it. He glared in challenge at the Jurgor, the Jurgor met his gaze with a glare of its own. Soon enough the two were at it again, trading punches for slashes, kicks for tail slams. Both of them biting and clawing at each other, Three was starting to get the upper hand, his regeneration showing its worth as his foe tired while he did not.

The creature backed of, huffing in exhaustion. It glared at him but refused to back of, Three roared at the creature once more, the creature returning the gesture with a roar of its own. Although the roar was still impressive it had nowhere near the power it displayed when they first met. Three, not caring for its plight, charged the creature, the creature not willing to admit defeat faced down his charge with one of its own, its exhaustion fueled leap easily dodged. Three slipped past its maw and swung up upon its back, he wrapped his arms around its neck and pulled, cutting of its air supply. The creature yelped as it clawed the ground, Three refused to let go, It twisted in the air, slamming Three into the ground. Yet still he refused to let go, it growled and tried twisting and turning to get Three of its back. Suddenly it stopped moving, holding perfectly still. A sad rumble filled its chest, on instinct Three decided to let go. He jumped of the creatures back and walked in front of it. The jurgor stared at him with its lizard eyes, it flattened its ears and put its head on the snow. It rumbled again softly, the sound almost resembling a purr, Three walked up to the creature, the once mighty Jurgor staring him in the eyes, unmoving. Three gently extended his hand and put it on the creatures snout.

[A Crimson Jurgor, Mutant Lvl : 31 has submitted to you, Accept it as your companion?]

Three stared at the message wide eyed, he tapped it, checking for more information.

[If you accept a creature to be your companion, you will receive ten percent of its stats, while it receives ten percent of yours. This does not remove any stats of your own, simply adding them to your own maximum. The highest level skill will be exchanged at 50% efficiency, neither party will lose any efficiency of the original skill. Companions loyalty is based upon actions and strength of both user and companion]

Three smiled at the message, it would strengthen both him and the Jurgor. He would have to earn its loyalty though, at the very least he had proven himself to be the Alpha, that should be enough for now. He clicked accept, he now saw the Jurgor’s tag in green instead of the usual red.

[Name companion?]

Three stared at the message, scratching his chin. He thought of name, it was simple but he thought it fit his new friend.

[Companion has been named Crimson]

[Skill received, Heat vision.]

[Your companion has received the skill, Lesser Regeneration]

Three grinned at the messages, he looked towards his new friend.

“Well Crimson, I will be heading back to town, I will come back tomorrow night!” He told the creature.

It flattened the ears on its head, giving him a gentle nudge with its snout. He scratched its ear, heading out of the forest.

With a last glance behind him, he left the forest. A pleased smile decorating his face.