Chương 21: Bloodspawn (4)

Rowan hissed as the rot continued to eat away at his wound, the flesh of his forearm turning black. With the adrenaline fading, the pain hit him, and it was agonizing. After a few moments of just staring at the small gash in his arm, hoping it would miraculously stop, he realized what he needed to do. Glancing at the fading blade of mana in his hand, he brought it to his arm. He couldn't hesitate; if he did, the blade would dissipate, and he didn't have nearly enough mana to create a new one.

So, Rowan sliced into his own arm, screaming through clenched teeth. But his flesh was durable. Frustratingly so. And then, finally, after what seemed like an eternity of pain, his blade sliced through. A moment later, a chunk of flesh fell to the cave floor. Rowan panted, clutching his bloody arm. But somehow, despite the wound growing in length to several inches, it hurt less than before. After a few seconds, he looked about, searching for something to bandage the wound with.

But his clothes were in tatters, most of them already gone. Even the few parts with enough fabric to properly bandage something were soaked with blood and ichor. He muttered a curse and gave up on the idea. He would just have to live with it for now. Leaning back against the cave wall, he grabbed his waterskin, allowing himself a sip of the precious liquid within that had somehow managed to become even more valuable just a few hours earlier.

With his arm injured and out of mana, he wasn't in condition to be fighting anytime soon. So, with nothing better to do, he sat down and observed the infected flesh he'd separated from his body. — A few hours later, Rowan stood up. His arm's bleeding had been reduced to a trickle thanks to his vitality. As for the chunk of flesh, it had continued to wither away, and now, it was only half the size and completely blackened.

His mana was also recovering, and while he'd only regenerated about a third of it, he had enough to use his chains and a mana blade or two. Speaking of his mana constructs, he'd decided to try making and controlling multiple at the same time once his mana was full. Until then, he would keep moving. With his water situation more dire than ever, he needed to either find more enemies or, even better, find a water source. As he walked, he ate from the bag at his waist.

He'd already determined which of the dried fruits and meats were his favorite, and had been carefully rationing them. But, after the last fight, he figured he could reward himself by having a few of the best fruits. He had yet to find a fruit that he could recognize, but Rowan just shrugged. It didn't matter; they still tasted good. He continued through the tunnels, checking every vine he came across for vine stranglers and straining his ears for the sound of more bloodpawn.

Then, after hours of wandering, he heard it. Not the cries of the fleshy amalgamation of the caves. No, when he truly focused, he could hear the trickle of water. But, in his distraction and elation, he didn't see the beast charging him until it was nearly too late. As the doglike Bloodpsawn leaped through the air, soaring towards him, he swept his mace upward. The weapon caught the beast under the chin with a sickening crack. Then, the Bloodspawn flew into the wall with another crack.

Rowan readied himself for the creature to charge him once more, but it didn't. [You have slain Fungal Bloodspawn - Level 2] That had been… anticlimactic. Still, it was nice to see what his power could do to a lower-level enemy. Rowan shook his head. To think that just days earlier, the creature would've posed a massive threat to him. But he couldn't get complacent, even against such weak enemies.

The Bloodspawn still had the poison on their claws, and if he hadn't noticed the beast in time, he could've very well lost his life. Before he could turn his attention back to the water, he heard screeches coming from far ahead. Humanoid Bloodpsawn. Glancing up, Rowan summoned a blade of mana as the two beasts charged him. Quickly, he focused on them, trying to see their levels before they were upon him.

[Fungal Bloodspawn - Level 7] [Fungal Bloodspawn - Level 5] The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Immediately, chains sprang to life, leaping towards the two beasts. But the moment the creatures saw the steel links, they slowed down, advancing far more carefully. Rowan tilted his head. The other pair of Bloodspawn he'd fought hadn't reacted like this to his chains. In fact, they'd practically ignored them until they were already bound.

Still confused, he extended the chains further, the links snaking towards the humanoids. But, as the chains approached, the two creatures retreated, claws held in something resembling defensive positions. It was actually a relief that he could hold them off and take some time to think before engaging. But that relief was far outweighed by something else: the thought that the Bloodspawn were smart enough to know and avoid the danger of the chains, even if the last two he'd fought hadn't.

And though the bloodspawn were kept at bay, he could by no means keep this up; the duo was far enough away that maintaining the chains was devastating his mana pool. Cursing, he began to retract his chains. And as he did so, the fungal beasts followed close behind, slowly closing the gap between them. But as they continued their advance, one of them strayed too close to the chains, and like a viper, they sprang forward, constricting around the unfortunate bloodspawn.

Not letting the moment go to waste, Rowan thrust his hand forward, throwing the blade of mana. [Bind lvl 7 → Bind lvl 8] As it flew, he adjusted its flight path. But, as the mana construct neared the creature, he lost his control over it. Still, it struck the beast in the chest, earning a scream. Cursing, Rowan chided himself for not thinking of it earlier. The area in which he could control his mana was limited. It made so much sense, but he'd never moved his mana beyond that range. Until now.

From what he'd seen, the construct had been around ten meters away when his connection with it had been severed. He moved forward, hoping to get in range of the blade. But at the same time, rather than aiding its bound comrade as the two previous bloodspawn had done, it charged straight towards him. Rowan stumbled back in surprise as the beast burst into action. He tried to strike it with his chains, but they were all occupied with the other bloodspawn, and his mana construct was still out of his range.

Even worse, with the charging bloodspawn, he couldn't move closer to the blade. So he readied his mace, facing down the beast. At the same time, he unraveled one of the chains binding the other many-mouthed abomination. It would hasten the beast's escape, sure, but he needed something if he wished to stand a chance against his current opponent. Using the same strategy as just hours earlier, he let the creature take its wild, animal strikes, dodging with ease.

Then, he retaliated, mace piercing flesh and cracking bone. Time and time again, he struck the bloodspawn. But as he sidestepped and counter-attacked for the umpteenth time, something changed. His mace flew towards the creature's already mangled side, but it never made contact. Instead, it was met with the beast's bony claws, chipping them but not breaking through. Eyes wide with surprise, he barely avoided the bloodspawn's next flurry of attacks.

But as it continued pushing him back, pressing its advantage, Rowan smiled. Then, a lone chain caught its strike mid-swing. The chain yanked downward, pulling the beast down with it. Taking advantage of the beast's vulnerable state, he swung with abandon. There was a series of sickening cracks as the mace smashed into the eyeless creature's head, cracking its skull. Then, with his current opponent down and the other still bound, he focused on summoning another blade of his dwindling supply of mana.

It wasn't quite the same as using both at once, as one of the constructs was outside of his range and didn't require any mental or mana input, but the speed at which he summoned it in the middle of a fight was still impressive—at least, Rowan thought it was. [Mana Manipulation lvl 9 → Mana Manipulation lvl 10] Taking his newly formed blade, he thrust it into the beast's already shattered skull.

[You have slain Fungal Bloodspawn - Level 7] [Level 6 → Level 7] The second he confirmed the humanoid was dead, Rowan cut off the mana to the chains binding the other bloodspawn; he wanted to still have some of the precious energy after the fight was over. With the chains already damaged and now no longer being maintained, it didn't take much effort for the remaining beast to free itself. The chains shattered around it, and it stood, screeching.

Before it could attack, though, a blade of mana flew forward, punching into its neck. Cut off from his mana, the blade that'd initially been buried in the bloodspawn's chest had almost entirely dissipated. Still, it had done some damage before it was gone, leaving a deep wound in the center of the creature's torso. Once the blade in its neck couldn't go any deeper, Rowan ripped it out at an angle, tearing the wound wider. Then, he sent it forward again, stabbing right into one of the beast's too many mouths.

It cut deep, but when he tried to pull the blade out once more, it wouldn't budge. It took a moment for him to realize what had happened, but once he did, he let out a curse. The damn beast had bitten down on the mana construct, refusing to let it free even as it mangled the inside of its mouth. Still cursing, he moved forward, striking the bloodspawn in the chest while it was still distracted by the blade in its mouth. It lunged at him in retaliation, but he dodged with ease.

He swung his mace at its exposed side, but halfway there, he was blocked by a set of bony claws. Partially. It sent his mace slightly off course, but the creature hadn't been fast enough to entirely block the blow as the metal spikes ripped into its flesh. But Rowan didn't care about landing the blow. What he cared about was that the bloodspawn had attempted to block his blow. It had adapted. And it wasn't like the other one that had taken hit after hit before it figured it out.

No, this one had done it the very first time he'd used the strategy. What were the bloodspawn doing? Finally, he managed to rip the blade from the beast's mouth, drawing a spray of red liquid. Then, he ducked under one of the creature's attacks and drove the blade up under its chin. Unlike its level 7 brethren, this one was only level 5, and thus, it just couldn't keep up with him, especially with his recent level-up.

[You have slain Fungal Bloodspawn - Level 5] Rowan just stared down at the beast's corpse, trying to process what he thought was happening. The bloodspawn were learning. Every time he killed one of them, every time he showed an attack, the others would learn and adapt to better fight it. To better fight him.