CHAPTER 48: CHAPTER 48 - YOU LITTLE SHIT

I carved out the core easy enough, marble-sized, pulsing a faint red.

I brought it up to my face, fingers still slick with blood, watching the swirls within for a few moments, just as I always did, and then down the hatch it went.

[You have consumed a Tremor-Class Beast Core.]

[Absorption has begun...]

[EXP:5200/7750]

[EXP: 5700/7750]

[EXP:6200/7750]

[Tremor Class Beast Core has been fully absorbed.]

1000EXP, really isn’t much now that I’m in the Silver Rank. But, I think I did decently well considering I didn’t use channeling. Still, I’m sure Gerard and the Party could beat this thing without so much a scratch. They were a party, but their movements were so well trained and coordinated that none of them were put in significant danger.

The thought made me wonder what Gerard’s Axe Mastery might look like. My own swings were still a far-cry from his. I’d first noticed his proficiency outside the core, when he’d first handed over this very same axe in my hands. He may be silver rank, but I was sure his Mastery was well beyond basic.

My attention returned to the Spider carcass.

I wasn’t touching the meat. The idea of spider flesh in my mouth was...repulsive. Enough to turn my stomach. But the venom? That...would have its uses.

I cut carefully into its abdomen, prying out two swollen sacs. The skin was translucent and shot through with red veins, with a thick purple liquid sloshing around within---my prize.

Each pouch was about the size of my fist.

One poke of the axe-tip and the dark liquid oozed free.

I raised it and drank without hesitation.

It burned like swallowing molten tar.

[You have been inflicted with [Poison].]

[You have been inflicted with [Poison].]

[You have been inflicted with [Poison].]

[You have been heavily inflicted with [Poison].]

[You have been heavily inflicted with [Poison].]

[You have been heavily inflicted with [Poison].]

...

The prompts poured in as the poison did its work. It ate away at my health bit by bit, still nowhere near fast enough to keep up with my healing.

Wait. My healing. Has it gotten faster?

Venom from a Tremor-Class beast would most definitely have been enough to keep up with my healing before. And if I’d gulped down this much of it at once, it could very well have overpowered it. But now...

It’s not even a competition...

The prompts continued to flash one after another as the venom coursed, and my Gift pushed back harder each time. I leaned against the wall, letting the waves of poison roll through me. Painful, but productive.

When it slowed down enough, I did it all again with the second sac.

Eventually, when the venom finally settled, the System summarized my gains at my request.

[Host’s [Poison Resistance] has increased greatly: x250]

[Poison Resistance III -- Poison Resistance X]

[The Bronze Rank Skill [Poison Resistance X] has successfully evolved into the Silver Rank Skill [Enhanced Poison Resistance I].]

[Enhanced Poison Resistance I -- III]

I buckled over laughing.

That was far too easy. Or perhaps it was my standards of what was difficult that had increased. The average person might not have had the thought that bearing all this pain for so long was "easy". But compared to all that I’d experienced up to now, it was almost a walk in the park. An unpleasant, distressing walk, sure, but a walk nonetheless.

I shouldered my axe with a shake of my head and glanced up. The cavern mouth stretched thirty feet overhead.

Only one way up, I guess.

I drove the axe-blade into the wall, using it like a hook, and pulled myself up bit by bit.

But my body made the work light. Soon, I pulled free onto solid ground again.

And then there it was.

The unease returned immediately. The same weight. The same gaze.

I exhaled, rolled my shoulders, then slammed the head of my axe into the dirt.

"Enough." My voice carried sharp in the silence. "Come out and face me."

The forest answered with stillness.

Then---to my right---the darkness shifted.

My axe went straight up, primed to swing.

Then, twin orbs of gold opened up, staring back at me.

For a breath, my muscles locked. Then the truth hit.

"You...You..."

I stuttered, trying to remember the right way to swear.

"---You little shit! I almost attacked you!"

The cub padded out, six legs just a little more stable than they used to be. Its eyes were locked on mine, but its head tilted again, just as it always did when it didn’t understand my words.

I lowered my axe in slight relief, pinching the bridge of my nose with a sigh.

The cub plopped down on its rear right in front of me.

"Still. That’s one handy ability your kind has. Especially in an area like this one."

Tilt.

"Haaaah. Why are you here? I thought you went your own way."

Tilt.

"..."

It leaned forward on its hind legs, sniffing my boots.

"All hells---Fine. You can follow."

It jumped to its feet immediately and looked around lazily, ready to leave.

*THAT it understood?!

I realized I’d just been played like a fiddle. "I’m not falling for that again, you hear me?"

The cub chuffed, then padded ahead, tail flicking lazily, as if the endless dark wasn’t filled with things that could snap it in half.

I chuckled, "You’re going the wrong way."

It froze cutely, then turned and padded back to my side, staring up at me again. "So you do understand...somewhat."

Freya. I wonder what you might have said had you seen this cub. It understands speech. And its smart enough to pretend not to sometimes.

Perhaps I’d hear when I eventually returned to Theverie. But first, I had to find strength enough to defend it.

"Wait here", I told the beast, then darted back up into the trees to re-assess my bearings. A quick glance to the twin suns, along with the prescribed hand movements only needed a few seconds to tell me which way was which.

West was Left.

I dropped down to the ground in one go, making sure to keep my body aligned.

My gaze landed on the cub that had, surprisingly, stayed put.

"Come."

I started westward, shaking my head with an involuntary smile. "Try to keep up."