2-58 Chimera

The Flesh Golem, an amalgam of dozens of corpses, approached the two with irregular steps. It didn’t seem to understand its own physique and weight. As a result, it could barely walk straight or even walk at all.

Erin heightened her stance’s fortitude and swallowed a lump in her throat. “What the hell just happened? I couldn’t smell or hear this abomination approaching, let alone when it picked up a fucking huge piece of rock and threw it at us!”

“Stealth magic… looks like our Necromancer is quite knowledgeable,” Aedan responded dryly. His eyes did not steer away from the Flesh Golem which was having difficulty with its bearings.

“Look at it. It can’t even walk straight but it managed to creep up on us.”

“The stealth magic cast on it lasted only until it attacked us. With a little bit more practice and refinement, that stealth magic would be perfect for assassination.”

“If the Necromancer knew this magic, why didn’t he use it often? I imagine I would have been killed by him if his thralls were enchanted with this magic.”

“Perhaps it isn't an easy magic to enchant. Look at this creature. It’s a sloppy work. And the stealth magic enchantment wasn’t enchanted to last. The Necromancer is desperate. It’s throwing whatever he can at our way. We are on the right track.”

“Right track or not,” Erin said, stepping forward. “This abomination cannot be allowed to wander.”

As Erin was about to strike, Aedan put a hand on her shoulder.

“Save your strength,” he said. “I’ll deal with these insignificant creatures.”

“Insignificant?” Erin tilted her head in wonder. She would in no way call that creature in front of them, “insignificant”.

The Flesh Golem eventually figured its balance and began to charge towards them. Each step of it caused a slight tremor to the whole cave but Aedan just stared with an indifferent expression.

“Aedan, are you sure— eh!?”

Before Erin could finish her question, Aedan dashed right into the Flesh Golem’s reach. The abomination swung its gigantic arm with a width of half of its body. Aedan did not move. He waited for the fist to reach him.

“Aedan, what are you doing!?” Erin couldn’t help but shout at Aedan’s confounding action. Her worries weren’t irrational but that was only if she was in her former world. In this world, levels don’t dictate the entirety of one’s capability but the difference was vast if level gaps were taken into consideration.

This was why the Flesh Golem’s fist did not manage to even make Aedan budge a little. Erin stared in disbelief as the realization of the true meaning in level gaps dawned on her. The Flesh Golem also stared in confusion but it didn’t last long. Aedan immediately sent a palm into the Flesh Golem’s face, the air rippled, blowing the upper part of its body away. Just like that, the Flesh Golem fell lifelessly to the ground.

“What the fuck...” Erin gasped. “J-just what level are you?”

“High enough to survive a collapse of this whole cave, if something like that should happen,” he answered.

“Does this mean dealing with the Necromancer won’t be a huge issue for you?”

“He’s a Necromancer. His kind tends to employ tricks that defy common senses. I doubt he can be dealt with something as simple as a punch.”

“I won’t call your punch simple.”

“What I meant is Necromancers are practitioners of death magic. They don’t die as the average person does.”

“Then how do we deal with him?”

Aedan hung his head in silence and contemplation for a while before producing a small pouch from his subspace. Like the grey spores, he scattered the pouch’s contents into the air. The contents were powder-like substances but they weren’t grey. They were of a bleak cyan.

“What did you just do?” Erin asked.

“Fairy powder. It attracts Spirits.”

“Attracts Spirits? How? I can barely feel any—” Erin paused and blinked. There was a change, a change that she only realized now. The miasma in the air wasn't as heavy as before. “What happened to the miasma?”

“Most likely the Necromancer had consumed most of the miasma on this level, leaving it shallow. If it’s here, with the Fairy Powder, we might be able to use Spirit Magic again.”

Erin’s face lit up. “Then—”

“But,” Aedan stopped Erin’s excitement, “it will take some time before the Spirits can accumulate to the point that we can cast Spirit Magic.”

“Well, that’s disappointing.”

“Cheer up. We’re close to the Necromancer now at least, very close.”

Erin was wondering about Aedan’s undertone when she felt the slight shift in the air. She looked towards the direction where the changes came from. She found nothing with her eyes, ears, and nose but she knew there was something in front of them.

“They’re coming,” Aedan said.

“I know,” Erin replied. “My skin can feel the shift in the air. It’s even giving me the shivers not knowing how many there are.” She was able to feel the enemy approaching this time due to the numbers.

“Beyond a hundred.”

“I was being rhetorical.”

“I know.”

Erin clicked her tongue. “Even in this kind of situation, you still found some way to be annoying.”

The first enemy that broke its stealth and lunged at Erin was a hound-like creature with wings and fangs of a bat.

Erin paled at the sight of the creature. She had encountered many beasts which seemed to be a fusion of two distinct animals but there was a sharp difference between the many beasts she had encountered and the current creature she was looking at. The hound with wings and fangs of a bat in front of her could only be described as a creature that had been assembled together by a person without regard to the practicality of anatomy. In simple words, it was an abomination much like the Flesh Golem. She quickly glanced at the Appraisal’s result.

“C-Chimera?” Erin blurted out. That wasn’t all to what she appraised. The Chimeras’ status read; Deceased, Enthralled. Her mind blanked for a moment but her Sixth Sense dragged her back to reality. She brandished her sabre just in time to slice the Chimera in half as it lunged straight into her blade.

[Experience gained +5% - Level Progression: 5%]

“There’s more of them, don’t let up!” Aedan shouted. He spun and kicked at the Chimeras even before they broke out of their stealth, turning into mashes of flesh.

Aedan’s voice didn’t enter Erin’s mind. The word “Chimera” was still lingering in her mind. In her former world, she had never encountered a Chimera but she had heard plenty about it. Chimeras were basically creatures that were poorly put together with various parts of different animals. They were the perversion of scholars’ desire for unsavory knowledge. They were so grotesque that the research of Chimeras was deemed illegal by many kingdoms and even slavers shunned the idea.

“Erin, behind you!”

“You don’t need to tell me that,” Erin muttered in a low voice and swung her sabre in a full circle, decapitating quite a few Chimeras in stealth that had encircled her.

[Experience gained +25% - Level Progression: 30%]

A rabbit of a child’s size, a tiger’s head, and a goat’s legs sprang at Erin. She threw an Aura Shot but the Chimera used the air as its foothold to leap away from her attack.

Erin’s eyes widened. “It can even do that?”

The Chimera leapt again, launching itself at Erin. She swung her sabre but the Chimera leapt out of harm’s way, again using the air as its foothold. However, the Chimera didn’t last long. Erin used Iron Fang at the unsuspecting Chimera which leapt into the range of her tails. Her tail moved at an incredible speed and impaled the Chimera.

[Experience gained +5% - Level Progression: 35%]

“Creating Undead Chimeras… how low can this Necromancer sink?” Erin mused.

Aedan caught her words. “He’s someone who dabbles with a living being’s final rest. I don't think he has a standard at all. I would advise you to keep an open mind. I’m willing to bet he can sink even lower than this.”

Erin bisected a Bird-ox Chimera in half. “That is what worries me,” Erin said. “I’m getting sicker and sicker the more I understand his nature.”

[Experience gained +5% - Level Progression: 40%]

Aedan completely pulverized a Horse-wolf Chimera with a single punch. “On the bright side, he’s throwing these hastened and unfinished creations of his at us incessantly. He’s running low on options.”

Erin carved a Cat-snake into pieces. “I feared what's the lowest he could offer. I don’t think I even want to know if I can help it.”

[Experience gained +5% - Level Progression: 45%]

Chimeras kept pouring out of the tunnel seemingly without an end. Erin wanted to rush straight to the Necromancer but leaving these Chimeras alive was a dreadful idea she didn’t even want to think of. She had thought wars were terrifying but knowing there was someone who would create Chimeras, embodiments of abominations, she shoved the terrors of wars down a spot. The ideas of an uninhibited scholar or a learned person were infinitely more frightening.

The two were soon drenched in the blood of their fallen enemies but there was still no sight of an end to the enemy’s numbers.

“Erin, I don’t want to leave a single Chimera alive but… I don’t think they will stop coming if we don’t cut off the problem at its roots.”

Erin sliced and diced a persistent Lizard-rooster Chimera into bits. “What do you suggest? Split up?”

[Experience gained +5% - Level Progression: 50%]

“No, splitting up is a fool’s idea. Without me around, you would be quickly overwhelmed.”

Erin clicked her tongue but she couldn’t refute what Aedan said. She was only able to cull so many of the Chimeras because she had the support of Aedan. He was drawing most of the Chimeras to him.

Erin dodged an Elephant-bear Chimera’s stomp that shook the room. “Then what do you propose?”

“Stand behind me,” Aedan said, facing the tunnel which the Necromancer resided in. “We will charge towards the Necromancer.”

Erin swooped back in and lopped the Elephant-bear Chimera’s limbs off. She then ripped her saber right through its hard flesh, splattering her face with its black blood. “And what of the Chimeras?” she asked, her gaze remained ever vigilant at the encroaching Chimeras.

“I will take care of what’s in front and any Chimeras that I missed, I trust that you will not let a single one slip by your blade or tails.”

Erin flashed him a grin. “Count on it,” she answered confidently. For some reason, the responsibility he laid upon her didn’t feel heavy. On the contrary, she felt assured. Not a shred of worry could be seen in her expression as she nodded.

Erin positioned herself behind Aedan as the Dragon-kin ran right through the horde of Chimeras pouring out from the tunnel. The Chimeras that survived Aedan’s charge were pulverized by either his punch or kick. The Chimeras which escaped his reach were quickly felled by Erin’s swordsmanship.

“Doing good, Erin. Keep this up!” Aedan praised and continued pulverizing the Chimeras as he made a beeline towards the Necromancer. With Erin right behind him, she culled away the Chimeras that he didn’t manage to.

With their teamwork, they were finally making progress. The Chimeras were endless but it wasn’t much of a problem for the two. Aedan had an immense amount of stamina and strength. His punches and kicks didn’t need any form. Even his most effortless punch could break all the bones in a human’s body. His Dragon skin and the height of his level naturally made him impervious to the Chimeras’ attacks. Not a single drop of blood was drawn from him.

Erin wasn’t complaining either. She had a near-endless supply of experience. The Chimeras had only ferocity and fearlessness as their advantages. They did not have any concrete strength to support those two perks of theirs. With Arcane Edge, Erin was able to easily slice through each and every one of them.

[Erinthea: Level 30 increased to Level 31]

[Skill Points gained +2 | 2]

[Ability Points gained +2 | 12]

[Level Progression: 4%]

Thanks to the Chimeras unrelenting pursuit for their flesh, Erin had managed to ascend to the next level, though her reverie was quickly doused.

[Experience gained +2% - Level Progression: 6%]

“What a fucking sharp drop. This is bollocks!” she screamed in her mind.

A Chimera appeared in front of Erin but before she or the Chimera itself had done anything, it exploded on its own, scattering its blood and guts everywhere.

“What the hell!?” Erin shouted in confusion but her hands didn’t stop cutting down the Chimeras.

“As I have said, they’re unfinished and hastened creations. This is the Necromancer’s act of desperation,” Aedan explained while plowing through the horde of Chimeras without stopping.

As they advanced, Erin encountered more and more Chimeras which just exploded into bits of their own random accord. Some even began attacking their own peers amid the confusion. In no time at all, the pair of a Dragon and a Fox-kin broke through the horde and charged right into the lair of the Necromancer.

“So… you have come… despite everything...” the Necromancer said, sitting on a poorly-made throne located on the far end of the room. “And you brought a… friend… a Dragon-kin...” The Necromancer clenched his teeth and fists.

“Please to finally be of your actual acquaintance, Ba’al,” Erin replied. “You looked uglier than I expected.”

Aedan narrowed his gaze. “Careful, Erin. He’s an Apostle of a Divine.”

“I know.”

Aedan glared. “And you didn’t bother to tell me?”

“...I suppose it slipped my mind,” Erin answered with a grin and a shrug.

“Cheeky little witch,” Aedan muttered.

“I learned from the best,” Erin retorted. “Now… time to end this.”

The Necromancer, Ba’al, stood up from his throne. “Yes, I agree. The end is nigh… for you that is!”

“He certainly has a flair for the dramatics,” Aedan remarked and stretched his neck with a few cracks. “Well, let’s end this and go home.”

Erinthea - Faerie-kin: Five-Tailed Fox-kin

Level: 31 | Status: Mild Exhaustion

Might: 22 | Arcane: 35 | Finesse: 30

Magic Arts

Spirit Magic Lv. 8 | Arcane Edge Lv. 5 | Arcane Armor Lv. 10 | Lightning Magic Lv. 10 | Arcane Aegis Lv. 7 | Mystic Tail Arts Lv 1

Combat Arts

Sword Art Lv. 8 | Fleet Foot Lv. 5 | Brawler Lv. 5

Innate Skills

Appraisal Lv. Ex | Night Vision Lv. Ex | Sixth Sense Lv. Ex | Toxin Resistance Lv. 8 | Lust Deviant Lv. Ex | Mana Harvest Lv. 1 | Lightning Resistance Lv. 1

Unique Talent

Mystic Blade Lv. Ex | Revenant Lv. Ex

Level Progression: 26%

Remaining Skill Points: 2

Remaining Ability Points: 12