Chapter 3: Blood of the Beast
Before him was a humongous spider-like monster. With two of it's eight long, sharp legs perched on the edge of their little abode, it stared at them with all it's eyes. All seven of them seemed devoid of any light. It was as though he was staring into the void.
It's mouth was huge and bore three sets of razor sharp teeth that seemed like mini daggers. Every single tooth was covered in wet blood that dripped down. Looking up above it's crepuscular eyes, a single horn poked out.
'A fucking fright, how great'
That horn may not look like much to an ordinary, but to a rester…that there was a death sentence for most. In your first slumber? Oh, definitely. Even if you were blessed by every God of this world, it's hard to say you'd leave intact.
For now, all it seemed to do was observe them; analysing them. Perhaps it was thinking about which to devour first; which would be more tasty. If they moved an inch, it would likely kill them on the spot. Too much noise? Likely the same outcome. Now, they were sitting ducks, waiting to be brutally beheaded then slowly eaten by the fright.
"Please tell me your ability is teleportation or swiftness…or else we're dead" Lex whispered.
Hanz frowned.
It seemed his ability was nothing of the sort.
'Great…just when I thought I was safe. Some pure misfortune here…almost seems forced'
As the foul creature stared with all it's eyes, almost picking apart their flesh with just a look, Lex sighed deeply. It seemed things were getting worse by the minute. Now, they were met with certain death unless something changed dramatically in the next few seconds.
Slowly, Hanz's expression got darker and darker. It seemed as though he was ready to give up. However, that couldn't have been any further from the truth.
"Soon as I use this, push that thing off the edge" he said, his voice shaky.
It seemed he was piss scared too. Of course he was; this was a fright after all. It wasn't rare for a first-time rester to encounter such a creature…but it was certainly rare for them to survive the ordeal. That's why the population had dwindled so much ever since the slumber first came.
Suddenly, Hanz hastily snatched the strange eyeball ahead of him. Instantly, the monster shot a ball of silk at a tremendous speed in his direction.
His frail body struck the back of the cave with incredible impact, almost causing him to lose consciousness. The sheer force his head swung back must have caused a significant amount of damage. As for the damage to his ribs and back, they were both likely shattered in that moment. Still, the young man held on for dere life, seemingly activating the eyeball as he pointed it in the beast's direction.
'This crazy bastard'
Whilst he wasn't sure what the young man had done, he knew it was now all up to him. Hastily, he dashed at the beast, using all his might to push two measly legs of the edge.
He was stunned.
'How does this bastard way so much' he cried.
Still, he soldiered on, using his entire body to push one of the legs off, hopefully causing the creature to lose balance and fall off.
"Ack" he spat.
Time felt incredibly slow and he exhausted his body, pushing it to the limit in order to throw off this beast. With sweat gushing out of every pore of his body, he finally managed to thrust the foul critter off the edge. As one leg soon skidded off, the other followed suit, and finally the beast had fallen.
Watching the twisted, abhorrent beast slip off the edge of the rough stone and fall down below, Lex couldn't help but smile. However, he didn't have much time left to waste. After all, a fall like that would never kill a monster of that size, nevermind a fright.
"We need to get the fuck out of here" Lex yelled.
Hanz shook his head, now somehow away from the tought and sticky silk that seemed to have previously imprisoned him. Still, now he was very shaky. It seemed that Hanz was not good with nerves, yet he could still think clearly.
"The fuck you mean no? It'll kill us"
Hanz shook his head again.
"The item I used paralysed it for a short while…but it also took it's sight. We can kill it"
Lex was stunned. How did someone so frail and frightened get his hands on such an item? That's unheard of. And there's no way an item like that was merely ordinary grade; it had to be a warped item at the very least.
No, now was not the time for questions. He had to kill the foul beast. Now it was hopelessly blind, they had the advantage. Sure, it could cope without one of it's senses, adjust to it, but it had only now lost that sense. Shock must be taking over. If they struck now, they'd have a good chance of killing it.
"Let's climb down" Lex said.
As fast as they could, discarding any pain they felt, they climbed down the mountain, towards the currently disabled beast. Right now, they were most vulnerable, even a little force would push them over, disabling them for a few seconds. However, soon they arrived at the arena. By then, the beast was up, remaining bewildered yet now even more blood-thirsty than before. It seemed that walking had become a struggle for the beast, since it couldn't avoid any obstacles in the way. So Lex hatched a plan.
"I'll attack it's legs, you go for the organs" he said.
Hanz paled. Yet it was too late, the man had already began to charge at the titanic fright.
Swiftly progressing towards the startled fright, Lex felt pretty confident. Sure, he couldn't just kill a fright in normal conditions, however these conditions were not normal at all. In fact, they strayed in the complete opposite direction to normal. What were the chances you'd be fighting a fright that had just lost it's sight? Slim to none. Yet here he was, and he was ready to slaughter.
As he came close, the beast must have heard him come, turning to face him. The difference in size was astronomical. Lex stood at 180cm whilst the beast was easily over doubled that. A difference like that was nothing to scoff at. Yet, Lex remained calm and collected. After all, this was a battle of wits and resources, and his foul enemy had lost the advantage.
It was time to strike. As the creature shot out bundles of webs, Lex easily dodged most the mindless attacks, closing the distance.
'If only he had a ranged weapon' he moaned.
Closing the distance was the only way for him to deal damage, yet it gave the huge fright a good chance to simply stomp him with all it's weight. One wrong move and he was dead. Yet, faced with a fine chance of death, Lex didn't seem scared at all. In fact, he almost seemed excited with a callous smile gradually appearing on his face. Hanz retreated a little, noticing this small detail. He was a monster. This wasn't a fight between a fight and a rester; this was a vicious battle between two pure monsters.
Murder. He'd been waiting for this his entire life. A dance with death.
To him, he wasn't fighting a horrifying titan. No, he was dancing around with death, closely avoiding it's scythe.
Stomp.
As Lex met the fright's leg, adrenaline began pumping into his veins even harder than it already was. At this rate, he might just die from a heart attack. Yet, the young man didn't care at all. All he wanted was to bathe in the fright's tainted blood.
Swoosh.
He swung his sword his tremendous force, severing the leg from the joint. In that moment, the titan fell, losing it's balance.
"Ahahahahahaha" Lex laughed maniacally.
Hanz's face paled. Just who was this monster he'd saved? And had he made a mistake? What exactly was he unleashing on the world?
As the monster crawled around hopelessly, attempting to adjust to the new weight distribution, it was too late. Lex had mounted the beast, sliding his Dao across the beasts neck. Blood gushed out like water from a burst pipe. Soon, Lex was bathed in the creatures black blood.
[Fright slain: Blizzard Arachnea]
[Item Acquired: Befouled Heart]
Lex's eyes widened.
'An item? I suppose I deserved the fortune after everything that's happened'
Slowly, he moved his attention to Hanz, his body painted in blood.
"What were you doing, dipshit?" Lex's face darkened.
Hanz froze, looking at his ally whom wore the eyes of a cold-blooded killer.
"Erm…I'm a little embarrassed to say but, well…I actually can't fight very well. I felt as though I'd get in your way"
Lex's face became darker.
"All those items and you can't fight? I doubt it. It'd take at least three kills to get those, likely much more with the probability of a drop" he glared.
Hearing this, Hanz's heart began to beat with tremendous power. Even Lex could almost hear it a distance away.
"Those are monsters and this is a fright. I normally catch them off guard. I've only ever killed a few sleeping direwolves and a single walker. I'm living off luck alone"
Lex became visibly more frustrated.
'No way in hell he'd get that many items unless he killed a hundred sleeping wolves'
Noticing Lex's blood thirsty glaring, Hanz confessed.
"It's my ability…alright. I…I get a really good boost in probability for items, and…and I can increase their quality. Their rank I mean. Just by one…at the moment" he spilled his guts out.
What a strange yet useful ability. Still, how'd he get his first item? In order to kill all the wolves he'd need a good blade at least. Perhaps he strangled one? Or maybe he snapped it's neck? No matter, thing were adding up now.
Seeing Lex begin to calm down, Hanz continued, much more relaxed himself now.
"Look, I can prove it. I'll boost your armour"
As Lex heard this, a shiver went down his spine.
'Well shit' he sighed.
Now, he couldn't refuse it; it'd look to suspicious. It seemed his own ability was about to be revealed.
As the young man touched Lex's armour, visible confusion washed over his face. Suddenly, he gasped.
"What the hell is your armour? It's not an item"
Hmm. He didn't seem to suspect anything foul. He seemed more surprised than horrified. In the end, it wasn't that bad anyways. Surely it wasn't that strange to be wearing someone's blood for an armour piece.
"It's from my ability. I'm wearing the blood of one of the dead monsters of the dark forest"
In fact, he wasn't even sure what monster it was himself. It was mutilated and utterly unrecognisable when he found it, not far from the skeleton he'd killed to get the Dao.
Looking at his status, he laughed.
[Descendence: Blood God]
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone