Rise of the Devourer

Book 2: Chapter 25 — A Bloody Battle

Noah watched the creature looking at him with intent eyes, its nose sniffing the air. He had trouble reconciling the threat he felt from his instincts with the creature he saw in front of him.

The bunny moved closer, eyes intently staring at Noah. For a moment, Noah wondered if the creature was friendly. Then it opened its mouth, revealing sharp fangs as the air rippled visibly with a roar.

You’ve heard [Draconian Roar].

You’ve partially resisted the effect.

Stamina and health regeneration reduced by 10%

Noah stumbled back from the strength of the roar, shocked even further that he hadn’t simply resisted the effects. The bunny dashed ahead like an arrow shot from its quiver, and Noah jumped back, teleporting out of the creature’s way. Like a bouncing rebounding attack, the bunny landed on the walls kicking off as it rapidly changed directions and moved towards Noah as its horns grazed his thighs, drawing blood.

How is this thing faster than me?

Noah moved his star forged arms, creating the bow from Quadrivium ink as bolts of mana shot at the rabbit. Tony transformed Noah’s body as he took out his spear, striking at the rabbit.

The beast continued to dance around him, gouging out chunks of his body as it shot all over the arena, jumping from wall to wall, and boulder to boulder like a loose arrow. Noah growled in annoyance, swinging his spear around, as he tried to hit the rabbit, but the monster was faster than him, and it was aware of it.

Teleporting to avoid injuries, Noah tried to move away or draw the beast somewhere open with less platforms to jump off of, but the creature was smart, and would simply stand still, looking at Noah silently if he tried to move out of the cavern.

Standing on the other end of the cavern, Noah looked at the rabbit. It was the very image of a predator guarding its kill. The rabbit’s deep red eyes bothered him, their gaze unrelenting, and he wasn’t sure if he’d seen the creature blink even once. For a moment, he considered if he should turn away. He’d already completed his task. His eyes looked around at the hive full of corpses. If he left now, he wouldn’t be able to use his harvest ability on them.

“I can’t believe a rabbit is making me do this,” Noah murmured to himself, as he planted the butt of his spear on the ground, teleporting it into his Dimensional Pocket. A moment later, he grabbed his wrists, adjusting his shackles, Noah set a pulse of mana to them, as one by one both of the shackles fell off his wrist.

“Ah that feels good,” Noah said to himself, moving his wrists freely as he took a breath before storing the shackles in his Dimensional Pocket as well. Tony sent a shivering pulse to Noah.

“You feel that too huh?” Noah exclaimed, smiling. A moment later, claws extended from his hands and feet, his body transforming into a partial demonic form and Noah let out a guttural growl as he looked at the creature. “It’s been some time since I went full throttle. Let’s have some fun, bud.”

With a kick Noah shot forward, moving rapidly. Chaining blinks he closed the gap in an instant, slamming his fist where the rabbit was. His hand struck the ground, cracking the rock floor. Noah looked up, noting the bunny jumping at a wall and then launching back at him. He let void mana gather in his claws, striking at the rabbit’s horns with Obliterate. Sparks flew at the impact, as both the rabbit and Noah were shot back.

Noah looked at his arm, noticing it shaking after the impact, before his eyes went to the rabbit. It too had taken a hit, shaking its head to clear away the dizziness. We’re equally matched huh?

He smiled at the thought, letting void mana channel through his body as he rushed forward again. The rabbit jumped back this time, creating distance. A red glow pulsated around its body and fur, before Noah noticed the blood covering the arena starting to rise.

“Oh no you don’t!”

Noah activated Blood Drain pulling at the blood as well. Their abilities clashed, a torrent of blood filling the air and swirling around as they both pulled, making the air vibrate with the clash of mana. He felt the rabbit’s willpower straining against his, and he pushed, bearing down with the entire weight of his aura.

The rabbit pushed back, its own willpower like a sharp razorblade ready to cut through him as their auras collided rupturing the two abilities entirely.

Noah felt his injuries healing as a sliver of the blood flowed into him, while the rest simply dissipated. The bunny looked displeased, huffing as it thumped its feet. Noah didn’t give it time, moving ahead to strike the beast with its claw.

The rabbit opened its mouth, not trying to avoid Noah’s strike at all. An alarm rang in Noah’s head, and he teleported away at the last second before his strike landed.

Fire erupted in the cavern, flowing over the ground as it came from the little rabbit’s mouth. The temperature in the cavern rose rapidly as the flames swirled all around. Noah felt his body catch flame, catching the edges of the rabbit’s breath. He let the fire burn, lifeblood dealing with the damage as his body quickly began to grow resistant.

Moving ahead towards the rabbit he charged the creature once more, when the bunny hopped into the air, and then continued to hop away. Noah’s strike hit the ground, and he growled in frustration. Looking up, he saw the rabbit in the skies circling around as it shot balls of flame. Noah jumped onto the wall, running up its length as he kicked off to hit the rabbit, but his mobility was far more limited in the air, and the rabbit struck with its blast of flames, sending Noah crashing to the ground.

With a cough, Noah looked at the rabbit, smugly flying in the air and he regretted not picking up the item which gave him wings back in the guild.

Noah felt a shiver from Tony, which made his eyes go wide. Another breath of fire launched down from above and he teleported away, finding a better spot.

“Really?” he asked, the thought from Tony feeling a little ridiculous.

Tony shivered excitedly.

“Are you sure? I haven’t used the ability since… well, since the body modification.”

Noah felt another pulse. The symbiote felt confident.

“Alright then,” he said.

He felt Tony’s main body move out of his ring, and flow into him. Their minds began to interlink, thoughts being shared far more deeply and instantly. Noah’s skin changed, a dark black hue taking them on. His muscles and bones began to morph, teeth growing larger, pupils turning into slits. Two horns jutted from his temple, deep red eyes glowing in the dark. A tail grew from behind him, alongside two bat-like wings that formed behind his back.

Abyssal Symbiote has used Metamorphosis!

All attributes increased by 25%!

Time remaining: 90 seconds.

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Noah growled, feeling power coursing through his body. He looked up above in the air, eyes focused on his target. A moment later, he kicked off the ground, wings flapping as Tony supplied every instinct he needed to have to use his new limbs like they had forever been his. The symbiote worked in tandem with Noah, as they shot towards the skies.

Fire rushed towards them, as the bunny moved away but Noah was faster now. He rushed forward, claws swinging. The rabbit met his strike, its horns glowing with a brilliant light and the crackle of lightning. Noah used Obliterate and Bleed through channels in his fists, as the two struck.

A powerful explosion shook the cavern, lightning and void mana bursting outwards. Noah’s body was aflame as he crashed onto the ground with a powerful thud, the stone cracking underneath him. Pulling himself up, he shook his head, before noting the bunny standing on the other side. One of its horns was broken, blood dripping down onto its fur as a manic look stayed upon the creature.

Noah matched the expression with his own grin, growling as the two charged each other. Claws met horns in a destructive dance of magic. Obliterate tearing up the ground, as both of them drew the blood in the caverns to heal their wounds. The bunny shot flames from its mouth, burning Noah’s body but he remained where he was, striking back in return with his claws and carving into the rabbit’s flesh.

They traded blow upon blow and the damage kept building up, until they both stood staring at each other, panting in exertion. Noah felt his timer run out as his body returned back to its human form. He felt the fatigue set in and fought it, trying not to fall over.

The rabbit looked back at him, blood now soaking it from head to toe. Noah stared at the creature, feeling a strange sense of respect for it. But the battle had come to an end. He moved in with the last of his strength, lunging at the rabbit. The bunny charged as well, ready to strike at Noah’s throat with its horns.

Then, in a move that left the rabbit baffled, Noah let the strike land diverting it to his chest. Using the opportunity he grabbed the rabbit, before summoning an item from his Dimensional Pocket.

Two shackles clicked in place around the rabbit’s feet, changing size to fit their new wearer. The bunny thrashed to fight back but the trap was set and Noah let the shackles go up to full suppression.

He felt the rabbit biting at his fingers, drawing a small amount of blood as it tried to fight back, and Noah grabbed it by the scruff of its neck. The bunny kicked and squirmed to free itself, but it was pointless.

“Got you at last. Take the might of having a larger brain size,” Noah said, before pausing. “Did I just feel proud to have outsmarted a bunny?”

He sighed, nearly facepalming, before he collapsed onto the floor, as his exhaustion kicked in completely.

The bunny continued to struggle in his arms and Noah grabbed it tighter. “Don’t squirm too much or I’ll kill you,” he said, growling.

Somehow, the creature understood, stopping immediately.

“I still don’t know how a level 72 rabbit was stronger than so many other D rank enemies I’ve fought. Maybe it’s the Draconian part?” he said, looking down at the rabbit.

A moment later, he chucked the rabbit into his Dimensional Pocket, deciding to leave its fate up for later.

Leaning back, Noah looked around at the mountain of corpses around him. Half were burnt to a crisp and scattered to bloody chunks from the battle, but the giant Iron Teeth’s corpse was still intact.

Standing up, Noah limped to the giant beast’s body, placing a hand on it, as he activated Celestial Harvest.

Rolling a luck check… successful!

You’ve harvested [Iron Teeth Matriarch (Rare) - lvl 206].

81 credit points obtained.

“No item? What a scam,” Noah said, before glancing around. A moment later, he let celestial harvest activate on the remaining corpses.

You’ve harvested [Iron Teeth (Common) - lvl 47].

You’ve harvested [Iron Teeth (Common) - lvl 28].

…

You’ve harvested [Juvenile Iron Teeth (Uncommon) - lvl 104]

You’ve harvested [Iron Teeth (Common) - lvl 32].

17 x Iron Teeth fang obtained.

2 x Iron Teeth Scythes obtained.

1 x Iron Teeth Core obtained.

79 credit points obtained.

Noah felt his mana drain rapidly as the ability activated, and he had to sit down for a moment as he felt himself growing dizzy. Closing his eyes, he began to meditate to refill his mana, feeling it rapidly fill up.

When he was full, he began to use his ability again till he was nearly spent. The cycle of meditating and harvesting followed for several hours, until the hive was wiped entirely clean, including the nearby remaining areas.

Noah took a seat on a boulder, finally done with his task as he let his mana build up again with one last meditation.

Opening his eyes, he pulled out his notifications to check on them.

Abilities:

[Blood Drain] level 17 → 19.

[Bleed] level 17 → 18.

[Lifeblood] level 15 → 16.

[Blink] level 21 → 22.

[Dimensional Pocket] level 14 → 15.

[Starforged Arms] level 9 → 10.

[Celestial Harvest] level 1 → 9.

[Obliterate] level 20 → 21.

[Void Hunter’s Senses] level 12 → 15.

[Abyssal Symbiote] level 26 → 27.

Starforged Arms has ranked up to Intermediate!

Skills:

[Lightning Resistance] level 2 → 3.

[Fire Resistance] level 0 → 2.

[Terror Resistance] level 4 → 5.

[Aura Control] level 9 → 10.

[Aura Control] has ranked up to Intermediate!

Noah looked at his Celestial Harvest skill now resting at level 9 in just a single day of use. He found it a shame that it hadn’t reached intermediate already, but he suspected that was only a matter of time.

Starforged Arms and Aura Control had both ranked up, but he decided to wait before checking their descriptions. Changing menus he opened his Astral Vault to see how many points he had gotten.

[Astral Vault]

Credit Points: 1137

A smile came up on his lips as he saw the number of credits he had. After a moment of thought, he pulled up a prompt, investing all of the points in one go.

Do you wish to spend 1137 Credit Points to roll for an item?

Yes/No?

With the smile of a seasoned gacha player, he selected yes.