534 CHPT 534: To Experience In Power
Mud Skin.
More like lava skin. The Mud Pool was so mind numbingly scalding with magic he'd almost lost consciousness. He would've if only his consciousness was present in his mind. If only the sloshing pool was all he heard instead of the screams and cracks of explosive power.
Mud skin. What an unserious name. It was killing him. Filling his lungs along with strands of greasy hair and flecks of monster tusk.
He was dying.
No--
DING
[+1000 HP]
It felt like dying but pressure also created diamonds so who really knew...
[+500 Mana]
Not him. Not when the world was such a convoluted and overly confusing mess.
[+20 Strength]
Despite that, he was sure of one thing. Something he'd experienced before. He wasn't dying. He was damn close. It was that very closeness that acted as the shears to light the flame of advancing magics. Transformative power. He was being Reb--
"The fuck out of my pit, runt.....--"
Claude exploded out of the mud pool so caked in it's entirety that he looked more like a human shaped blob than anything else of distinct form or personality. Perfect time to transform.
With his Physical Spell (Second Frenzy) active, he ran his spears through the massive Razorbacks chest.
CLSHH!
Two more holes burst open in its legs. Somehow the tusked titan remained standing. Not that it mattered as a massive sand spear ripped through the Orc's chest. He barely even noticed the jingle of it's ornate cloth robe and bone armor. Immediately after the sand spear exploded. A backdrop of dark flames washed over the madness, scorching students and killing nature in a tidal wave of blanketing cruelty.
The students were in full panic mode. But some of them-- like Samuel and Tufani, they could smell the accolades. Claude could smell the greed.
Claude and the Razorback stood unfazed. In his peripherals, he could see the other two trying to flank him before being locked down by Primals and PitWolves.
It was too packed.
The Razorback went for his throat.
"INTERESTING!"
SWOOP
Claude backed away, letting the glory hounded and frenzied students hurl their best at the Orc as he tried to formulate a plan where everyone didn't die. Unless they were acting like they wanted too.
The Razorback pushed on like a Rhino, stumbling and swatting away flaming serpents, tornado shots and blood daggers. The backshot of the Orc homestead crumbling fit the chaos.
Just as much as the Razorbacks next attack that came in the form of a bubbling defensive dominance wave. It radiated off it's fur and flexed in unison with it's charging muscles. The scale of the ability didn't match the creatures mannerisms who seemed to effortlessly pull of the blast by grunting.
Claude watched the wave launch students into the air, and slam others into trees so hard they splattered against the bark like old fruit. He recognized many of them. Like Drake .....and his Snake who suffered the same fate.
He brought up his spears and cut through the magic, feeling the rip against his blades across his entire body as he slid back on his heels.
WOOM!
In his defensive state, the Razorback charged and swung at him. Left, right, uppercut, overhead slam.
Claude ducked and dodged, flinging clumps of mud from himself along the way.
"YOU... you survived the Pit! INTERESTIN--"
GSHH
Claude threw his spear into the Orc's chest the moment he gained space and yanked it back out with his chain of willpower. Simply poking and prodding the beast as it chased. But the mud was steadily slipping. His earthen mask was faltering, revealing chunks of his fur in between his sectional armor. He still didn't have the ot--
"Just keep going!" Ursula interrrupted, "If you wanted to take all of them, you would've left us outside. We're here. Let us work."
No time to debate.
"Be careful. The students are....."
"Yea. Just like the Enforcers said." Ursula replied.
Claude relented on his plan to extract all Razorbacks as he flipped and rolled through the unstable battlefield.
"You run too much for your strength. And YOU--" The Razorback caught a student by the throat mid charge.
"You look appetizing." The Razorback said as it held up Donna Brewer. Her stomach fat hung out from below her chest plate riddled with stretch marks and sweat.
"Oh yea? You hung--ery? Open wide you BASTARUGHHHHH!!!" Donna sent a steady stream of projectile vomit all over the Razorback Orc.
The steamy purple fluids drowned the Orc, coating it's snouted faced, matting it's brown fur..... stinging it's black eyes. Bubbles popped and went frothy white over its caked nostrils as it tried to breathe while fighting off the noxious delirium.
Donna fell as the Orc dropped her. She wiped her lips and looked at Claude, winking at him once before passing out.
The Orc stumbled. Swaying like a true drunkard. The students had long since gravitated towards the other two Razorbacks being gnawed on by Claudes super pack of PitWolves. Leaving the two alone inside the cluster of chaos.
The purple bile-ale coating it's head and tusks faded under the Orcish sun. As if it was rapidly absorbing into each strand of greasy hair. Into the thick skin beneath.
Claude took the moment he had and manipulated the greenery around them.
In the distance, clawed hands made of vine and roots grabbed at the Orcs as they swatted and shot magical blasts at the students. Their massive muscled bodies tore the roots from the ground and crushed the earth, but in their tear, they left openings.
In his minds eye he could see Maris ripping open Orcs. Surface level paper cuts due to her lacking level, but all she needed was a drop of blood.
Isaac lit the grass ablaze. A wonderous, dominant red flame that gave a second life to his nature as it came back with a vengeance. Chase bounded around the madness firing on all fronts, Conroy matched his pace with sword and Lightning. But both were wildly outpaced behind Tufani and Evelyn. Her Vulkura erupted into a unit of magical silver flame fox monsters.
The Razorback stumbled towards Claude, seemingly being reborn in madness. Before it's second foot could lift, he had his chain around it's throat, riding it's spiky furred back as it blindly took them north towards the icy mountains.
"Ursula..." Claude called to her as he fled.
"The Pit. I know."
He could hear the splash even after they came ripping out of the forestry and began ascending the hill. Feeling her take in the magic of the Pit was almost more intense than when he himself fell in.
Step after step. He was faster on foot than the Razorback. But he needed his stamina for what awaited them. Just like in his dreams. The hill wasn't even half the battle. The mud that once clung to him had long since washed away under the pressure of the harsh winds, leaving his near fully transformed state visible under the hot sun. He pulled more of it to the surface with a savage groan that rippled through his muscle and bone in a symphony of killer cr--
"NO!" The Razorback gained a semblance of reason as they reached the mountains apex. As if the trail of bones and stripped carcasses was a sacred bordering that spoke "DO NOT CROSS" in a language understood by all Orcs. On a very instinctual level. It flung Claude off its back in a frenzy.
He landed on the icy stone and rolled, careful not to noisily stomp and crush any bones.
Not that it mattered.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" The Razorback looked as if It was just barely surviving a hangover. It grabbed it's tusks and pulled. Straining as hairline fractures opened along their length. Claude cringed as blood leaked from it's snout.
He'd read the stories as a child to scare himself. But seeing it in real life was different.
The self mutilation. The fear. The panic as the Orc mumbled to itself and tried to calm the virulent magical storm swirling in it's gut.
CRACK!
The Razorback snapped off its tusks. As the blood sprayed winds blew the snow from the higher peaks over them in a shower of white. The Orc stood tall and roa--
SPLAT!
[+600 EXP]
Claude's fur stood on end. He didn't need eyes to know what happened.
The winds calmed. The snow that once shrouded his eyes in cold white faded. Yet he still saw white.
The sheer size of it could've been an illusion. It didn't need to blend in with the snow if it looked like snowfall.
White flecks of gangly curled fur so odorous Claude gauged silently. A scared pink belly loudly gurgling with hunger. So hot with magic it melted the snow that had fallen on the stone grounds. Hooves so sharp they looked like blades. Ancient Arctic PitWolf Pelts drapped over it's bulbous shoulders. The snout laid over it's head cast a fang shaped set of shadows across it's blind white eyes.
It sniffed.
Claude returned the action before tightening the grip on his spears. Orcs were all about dominance and submission. it's how their whole social hierarchy worked. But that was flawed for them. With Orcs there wasn't an Alpha. There was a ladder, and the higher you went the stronger there was. All the way until the apex. And like a foodchain, the apex can hunt everything under its gaze. But the Apex wasn't a very good way to describe what he faced.
What Claude faced was an Orcish god of sorts. A cannibalistic symbol of hunger and strife. If Orcs told scary stories, it was about what lay ahead....
"Polar Pig."
DING!
[You have achieved the Status of Pit Lord! All PitWolves in the area now fall under your command along with a set of Pit Lord Abilities!]
[All Physical Attributes have grown increasingly!]
[New Ability, (Battle Lust) Unlocked]
[New Ability, (Battle Empowerment), Unlocked]
[New Ability, (Dominance Constructs) Unlocked!]
[New Side Effect, Rabid Haze]
[New Side Effect, Pit Lords Hunger]
The Polar Pig swung it's battle axe in a wind splitting cleave. The sheer after blast that swept under Claude's feet cut open the back end of the mountain.
Even so, he wasn't so terrified. Not with so much power coursing through his soul. Not when the heat of battle thawed the concept of fear out of existence, leaving only a sheen of excitement covering him entirely. He felt brand new as he rocketed back down towards the Boss.
He wanted the others to feel it. He wanted the world to understand.
He threw his head back and howled.
