Chương 29: Bloodline

Vasser decided to tackle the two Archwolves, while Kayzen targeted the three that were far away. This distance was enough for him to toy them to death. Before that, though, Kayzen decided to give Vasser a helping hand. He stretched out his roots of perception and focused on the two Archwolves. He had gained the authority to imprison the Akashic Records, and now was the time to put it to use. Even without looking at them with his own eyes, Kayzen knew which ability he needed to suppress.

The most dangerous part of the Archwolves was their ability to make webs and hide among the trees. As long as he neutralized it, killing them would be as easy as butchering livestock. As his perception washed over the two Archwolves, he read their records like an open book. They had a total of five abilities, proving Baron Huiyan's claim that they were the strongest among the fiends. Agility, mutation, web, night sight, and lastly, hive mind. Kayzen immediately changed his decision of sealing their webs.

Hive mind was much more threatening since it wouldn't be pleasant to be swarmed by them. As Kayzen willed to imprison the records, a Hex resembling the sigil on his chest manifested above the Archwolves' skulls. They didn't know what happened before their hive mind ability was sealed. The creatures didn't seem to react much as their attention was focused on Vasser who was charging at them. Kayzen turned his head and settled his roots of perception on the three Archwolves that were swinging towards him.

He used three Hexes at once and targeted their nervous system in order to immobilize them. He had gone a bit overboard in killing the first archwolf since he didn't want to take any chances, but now that he roughly knew about their strength, it was a better choice to preserve their corpses. The fight, if it could even be called that, was over just like that. The three Archwolves who were jumping from tree to tree stiffened and fell on their webs.

Kayzen turned around and saw that Vasser had finished her opponents as well, in a much less refined manner. All that remained of the Archwolves were their legs. Her fists had blasted away their wolf-like torsos.

"You're done with the three?" Vasser asked.

"Yeah, found something new as well," Kayzen walked over and shared about the archwolves' hive mind ability. After some discussion the duo decided to head left first and collect their spoils so far, afterwards making a rush for the campsite. Keeping horses around them wouldn't be safe any longer since they were just regular animals and no match for the alien fiends. It wouldn't be safe in the forest either, but perhaps the animals had a better chance of survival if left on their own.

Kayzen and Vasser gave some of the food they carried to the horses and made a run towards the left. After three and a half minutes, they arrived at the site where the Archwolves had fallen.

"I'll keep an eye out. You collect whatever you want from them," Vasser suggested and climbed atop a tree. While her perception wasn't as strong as Kayzen's, her scouting wasn't half bad either. She was after all a Crusader who was well versed in traveling. Kayzen nodded at her and crouched beside the corpse of the archwolf. This was the first time he would be using his latest shard, and its effectiveness would determine how strong and how fast he could improve in the Warden rank.

Rank: Medium Bloodline Extraction: You are able to extract and purify Ether infused bloodline from dead organisms. The effectiveness of this ability depends on the rank of the record as well as the target organism. Kayzen placed his hand on the Archwolf's hideous skull and willed his shard to activate. Immediately, red tendrils of energy seeped out from the sigil on his chest and flowed through his veins. His fingers became like a beast's claw as they glowed in a crimson radiance.

The corpse of the Archwolf shrunk at a visible rate. Blood seeped out from its skin and converged into a dark red substance. After 10 seconds, all that remained of the Archwolf was a husk of its carcass, a red blob, and two fangs. As Kayzen held the red blob in his palm, he felt as if he was being electrocuted. The concentration of Ether in this blood was more than he expected. To make a comparison, it was about one-fifth of the Ether that was stored in his body. That wasn't all there was to it either.

He could feel the bloodline of the Archwolf. It was a novel concept since it was like a genetic chain that linked their entire species, becoming tangible due to Ether and Akashic records. Bloodline didn't necessarily mean that it was related to all of their abilities. However, in the hands of Kayzen, this was the perfect material to forge his Hex. He repeated the process two more times and collected the loot. Right on time, Vasser jumped from the tree and landed in front of him, observing the three blobs.

"Is that your new ability?" she asked.

"Indeed, it's the concentrated bloodline." Kayzen handed her the red blob of blood and Ether. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. She observed it for a while and squished it here and there. It looked surprisingly sturdy despite its appearance.

"Can you make something like a bomb out of it?"

"I could give it a try with some more materials."

"Great, next time I'll show you what I can do as a Xin." Vasser clenched her fists in excitement, but alas, she wouldn't be getting the chance to showcase her powers once again. The duo saw the light of fire and a pillar of smoke rising away in the far distance. Fire meant civilization. They were quite a distance away from the campsite, however, it seemed like people over there were well aware of the Archwolves' invasion in the forest.

They didn't have to go look for them either as judging from the trailing smoke, those from the camp were coming towards them. By the time Kayzen stored the blood and fangs, the party with the flaming torches had arrived. One after another mercenaries equipped with leather gear and sharp weapons emerged from the dark forest. Their eyes were cold and full of a murderous aura, far from the likes of newbies. One look was enough to tell that these were the people who had seen a fair share of blood.

For a moment, both sides stared at one another before finally a bulky mercenary walked towards Kayzen. Seeing his chiseled face and muscles reminded him of Mike.

"Are you moving towards the camp, or here for the mission?"

"We are coming from Ironheart town. Not sure what mission you're talking about," Kayzen replied.

"Oh, a coincidence then. We are here on a rescue mission. If you saw anyone, we'd appreciate it if you could tell us." Despite his fearsome appearance, the mercenary was polite in his speech. Kayzen had a good first impression of him.

"We didn't see anyone except for a couple of Archwolves."

"I see. We'll be on our way then." Just as the mercenary leader was about to say something else, a sudden flash of red light came over from the eastern direction. It was a signal flare, rising in the sky like a midday sun.

"Bloody fucking morons."

"Morons indeed," Vasser and the mercenaries cursed one after another. It would take a special kind of stupidity for one to use these types of signal flares in the middle of a night, especially in a dark forest. Rather than signaling your allies, it was more like announcing your presence to the whole forest. The mercenary leader sighed as he and the others prepared to move out. Kayzen and Vasser weren't familiar with the route, so they followed along as well.

It would be safer if they returned with them to the campsite. Not to mention that due to the flare in the sky, the Archwolves were bound to swarm together. Sure enough, the mercenaries were far more familiar with the forest. With them in the lead Kayzen and Vasser were able to avoid most of the hindrances along the way.

"Who are you guys trying to rescue, by the way?" Kayzen asked the bulky leader.

"Oh, I suppose we forgot to introduce ourselves. My name's Torim. We're just temporarily teaming up to join the Zephyr mercenary group. This was a mission released by them, and if we succeed, then we'll be able to get in as apprentices." Kayzen and Vasser gave a brief introduction as well and after some exchange, they got a clearer picture of what was going around. It turned out that a merchant caravan was trapped in the forest for unknown reasons.

The army had assigned this mission as a top priority, and one of the strongest mercenary groups around, Zephyr, had taken it in. While the mission was of a high priority, it didn't warrant them to step in personally since they were dealing with bigger threats. Thus, in order to fill up their lack of manpower and also complete the mission, they added a little twist of their own.

Those willing to join the Zephyr could take on the mission on their behalf, and based on their performance, they would be taken in as apprentices.

"Wait," Kayzen stopped all of a sudden. The mercenaries hesitated for a moment but stopped as well, eyeing Kayzen quizzically.

"There are Archwolves ahead. A lot of them. Something more dangerous as well." Torim scrunched his brows and tightened his grip on his greatsword.

"It should be an Elite on the level of a Ravager. They've been evolving as well. Forget about rescue, it would be a miracle if we are able to recover their remains." The group slowed down their pace and took a more cautious approach towards the site. Kayzen wasn't worried though, if anything, he was excited. Finally, it was time to fight with a worthy foe. So far he hadn't been able to progress as a Warden due to him dealing with those who were much weaker than him.

Now, he would be able to check out the full extent of his power. Vasser was even more eager than him. Yet as soon as they arrived near the target location, their excitement was replaced by boiling rage. What awaited them was a garish sight. Torn limbs and scattered goods lay everywhere in the forest. The Archwolves were hanging on the trees and feasting upon the merchants. Not a single soul had remained alive. The group had already expected the merchants to die.

However, it was another thing to see their kind getting eaten. No sentient species would forgive that, especially not humans.

"I'll take on the Ravager," Vasser declared.

"Got it. We'll handle the fiends then." The mercenaries agreed and moved out in smaller units. Only Kayzen remained standing at his place. Distance didn't matter much when his perception could reach every corner of the battlefield. Knowing that Vasser wanted to test out her powers, he focused his attention on the mercenaries who were getting attacked by the archwolves. One by one, he targeted the fiends who were of threat.

From imprisoning their records of making webs to paralysis via Phototoxin, his presence was felt all over the forest. At the same time, he didn't forget to keep an eye out for Vasser. Nothing much had changed in her fighting style after becoming a Xin. She jumped, punched, and smashed apart her enemies. The difference now was that her speed, strength, and defense had reached a whole new level. On the other hand the Archwolf Ravager wasn't a foe to be taken lightly either.

Unlike the Rift Lord they had faced before, the Archwolf was far from the beginner stage of Ravager. Kayzen counted and realized that the alien had used as many as eight abilities already.

"In the name of Argia, BEGONE," Vasser blasted her fist at the 20-meter long Archwolf, only to be slammed away by one of its legs. The leg was broken in half as a result, but the Archwolf didn't care much since it had seven more to spare. It hissed in fury and spewed webs all over the battlefield. Unlike the white webs of the fiends, the Ravager had sickly green colored webs. As apparent by the color, they were toxic and corrosive in nature. No matter how it tried though, the Archwolf failed to pin down Vasser.

She was as agile as a monkey and as strong as a bear. It screamed once again in irritation and jumped back to consume one of its fallen kin. To the appalled eyes of everyone, the two legs Vasser had broken regrew at a breakneck pace. Within seconds the Ravager was back to its peak health. This was the ninth ability the archwolf had used. And it was at this moment when Kayzen decided to enter the fray.