Chương 20: Chapter 19: Field Testing

James left the ruined shrine with two familiars who had changed enough that he kept glancing at them while they walked. Julie moved beside him through the undergrowth, nearly seven feet of dark scales crossed by red-gold markings that brightened whenever mana moved through her body. Kevin rode near the head of the Warpstone Warhammer, his larger frame surrounded by geometric blue patterns and several thin threads that kept the damaged weapon temporarily reinforced.

They made it several hundred yards before James stopped in a patch of sunlight. The four Regional Bosses could wait until he understood what his own team could actually do, especially when both new abilities involved limits the System had neglected to explain.

"All right, you two. Before we challenge something five levels above us, I'd like to know what your new abilities actually do," James said as he lowered the warhammer onto a flat stone. Julie's markings brightened with immediate agreement, while Kevin answered by tapping one leg against the hammerhead. James opened Julie's status first.

[Name: Julie] [Species: Embercrest Serpent] [Tier: Unawakened] [Level: 10] [Skills: Poisonous Bite, Heat Sensation, Rune-Touched Scales] [Strength: 16] [Endurance: 10] [Vitality: 14] [Agility: 19] [Intelligence: 26] [Charisma: 7] [Willpower: 14] [Perception: 17] James focused on Rune-Touched Scales and let Workman's Appraisal expand the description. Julie could absorb a limited amount of magical energy through the markings across her body, gaining temporary resistance to similar energy in the process.

She could also release what she stored through her next bite, though neither skill description gave him a useful measurement for how much energy she could safely hold.

"Limited is the word I don't like," James said as he crouched beside her and examined the red-gold pattern around her shoulder. Julie recoiled with enough offended dignity that he laughed before raising both hands.

"I know you handled the Ravager. I also remember feeling you get scared inside that cocoon, so forgive me for wanting to test the limits before we start catching lightning for fun." Julie flicked her tongue and turned her head away from him. Her annoyance carried clearly through the bond, mixed with enough amusement that James knew she was mostly performing for his benefit. Kevin tapped the hammerhead once, sending an impression that felt suspiciously like agreement with James. Julie turned toward Kevin.

The spider froze. Her stare continued. Kevin slowly walked to the opposite side of the hammerhead. James laughed and opened Kevin's status. [Name: Kevin] [Species: Foundation Weaver] [Tier: Unawakened] [Level: 10] [Skills: Silver Thread, Vibration Sense, Venomous Strike, Living Reinforcement] [Adaptation: Minor Fire Resistance] [Strength: 18] [Endurance: 13] [Vitality: 15] [Agility: 20] [Intelligence: 24] [Charisma: 5] [Willpower: 16] [Perception: 21] Living Reinforcement gave James slightly more information.

Anything connected through Kevin's silk could be temporarily strengthened, with the effect depending on the material, number of connected points, Kevin's own attributes, and the strain placed upon the reinforced structure. Range, maximum force, and duration remained conveniently absent.

"Apparently the System believes instructions build weak character," James said as he looked around for something disposable. A dead branch as thick as his wrist lay beneath a nearby tree, with a long split running almost halfway through its center.

"We start small. I'd rather destroy a stick than discover your limit while you're holding my breastplate together." James laid the branch across two stones and pressed his boot into the center. The crack widened immediately, proving his weight alone would probably break it if he pushed hard enough. Kevin climbed down, entered the split, and laid Silver Thread through the damaged grain. Blue light followed his silk. [Living Reinforcement applied.] The two sides drew tightly together.

Kevin stepped away while keeping several strands attached, and James slowly placed one boot on the center of the branch. The wood bent beneath his weight, though the crack held. James shifted all his weight onto it. The branch remained intact. He bounced once. Kevin radiated satisfaction.

"Good," James said as he stepped down and picked up the warhammer. He checked the familiar bond before raising the weapon, giving Kevin plenty of opportunity to object.

"Now we stop being polite." James brought the flat side of the hammer down. The impact drove both supporting stones into the soil. The branch jumped between them, and the surrounding bark cracked in two places. Kevin's reinforced split remained closed. James crouched and examined the damage with Workman's Appraisal. The original fracture had survived cleanly, while the new cracks had formed where the force traveled outside Kevin's reinforced area.

"You strengthened exactly what you were attached to," James said as he pointed toward the fresh breaks. Kevin moved across the branch and laid new silk into both. James waited until the blue light spread through every damaged section. He struck again. The wood held. Kevin's exhaustion rose sharply through the familiar bond. His legs spread wider against the branch, and the blue patterns across his body dimmed as he maintained three separate reinforcement zones under repeated impacts.

"That's enough," James said as he lifted the hammer away and lowered it to the ground. Kevin resisted for half a breath before releasing the skill, then climbed onto the weapon.

"Save the pride for when something is trying to eat us. I need data more than I need you proving you can beat a dead tree." The blue light disappeared. Every crack widened immediately. The branch collapsed between the two stones. James picked up one half and studied the broken grain.

"Temporary reinforcement works exactly as advertised," he said as Kevin settled near the hammerhead.

"One damaged connection is cheap. Multiple connections cost more, and heavy repeated impacts drain you fast." Kevin gave him a dry impression. James smiled.

"Yes, I know. You'll get stronger." Testing Julie required magical energy, which presented a more irritating problem. James had the Ember Core in his pack and several runic materials, though deliberately firing unknown energy into his familiar sounded like the kind of experiment that ended with regret. The damaged shrine also contained corrupted runes, yet dragging Julie back there just to provoke another discharge seemed equally stupid. Julie abruptly raised her head. Her Heat Sensation sharpened.

Kevin fired a thread into the nearest trunk, and faint vibrations immediately traveled back through the silk. Several bodies approached through the trees to the northeast. James picked up the warhammer.

"Looks like the forest volunteered," he said as Julie moved ahead of him. He checked the damaged spatial rune once before following.

"We learn what we can, and we keep enough sense to stop if either skill starts hurting you." Black growths appeared between the roots several minutes later. Purple veins pulsed through nearby bushes, and patches of bark had hardened into crystalline plates. Three wolves prowled through the corrupted clearing ahead, their fur missing across sections of their bodies where glowing runes had grown beneath exposed skin. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere.

Support the author by seeking out the original. Workman's Appraisal identified them. [Rune-Eaten Wolf — Level 10] [Rune-Eaten Wolf — Level 10] [Rune-Eaten Wolf — Level 11] James felt all three tense. The Level Eleven wolf raised its head first. Purple light gathered between its jaws while the two smaller wolves separated and began moving toward opposite sides of the clearing. James lowered the warhammer and adjusted his stance.

"Of course they learned tactics," James said as he stepped into the open. Julie moved at his left side, and Kevin climbed higher along the warhammer shaft.

"Everything gets smarter right after I get better equipment." The Level Eleven wolf fired. A narrow beam of purple energy crossed the clearing. Julie moved before James could warn her. The attack struck her shoulder. Her Rune-Touched Scales ignited red and gold, and most of the corrupted energy vanished into the markings instead of burning through her body. Pain struck the familiar bond immediately, sharp enough to make James take one step toward her. Julie remained standing. Another sensation followed the pain.

Pressure. The stored energy pushed against her from within, concentrated around the glowing markings across her shoulder and neck. James could feel that she still had control, though the amount already made him uneasy.

"Hold it until you have a clean target," James said as the two Level Ten wolves charged. Julie lowered her head in understanding, while the stored energy continued burning beneath her scales.

"And the second that pressure starts climbing too fast, dump it." Kevin leapt from the warhammer. Silver Thread stretched between two trees. The first Level Ten wolf hit the silk across its chest, tore through the outer strands, and lost enough speed for James to meet it. He swung into the creature's front shoulder and felt bone break beneath the corrupted hide. The wolf rolled across the ground and crashed into a root. The second attacked Julie.

She twisted around its bite, slid beneath the creature's chest, and drove her fangs into the softer flesh behind one rear leg. The pressure inside her disappeared in a single violent release. Purple energy flashed through her red-gold markings and entered the wolf through her bite. The creature screamed. Runic cracks raced beneath its skin. Several corrupted growths went dark, and the reinforcement running through its muscles flickered violently before failing around the wounded leg.

Julie released and moved away before the wolf fell. Satisfaction rushed through the bond.

"So you can dump the whole charge through a bite," James said as the Level Eleven wolf reached him. He caught one claw against the warhammer shaft and gave ground under the impact.

"Next experiment is learning how to use less than everything at once." The wolf struck again. Its claws hit the side of James's breastplate and drove him backward. He turned with the impact, allowing the creature's momentum to carry it past him while Kevin caught one rear leg with a strand of silk. James swung into its ribs. Armor cracked. Purple energy gathered around the wound, flowing through the corrupted runes as damaged tissue began pulling itself back together.

"Healing," James said as Kevin landed against his breastplate. The spider immediately stretched silk from James's armor to the warhammer shaft. Blue light spread through the connection. [Living Reinforcement applied.] The effect felt different from the branch test. James's breastplate, hands, and hammer became parts of one reinforced path. When the Level Eleven wolf charged again, James braced the shaft horizontally and let the creature slam into it. The force traveled through the hammer.

Kevin's silk carried part of it into the breastplate. James still felt the impact through his chest and shoulders, but the weapon stayed firmly in his hands and the damaged hammerhead remained stable. He shoved forward and drove the hooked obsidian spike beneath the wolf's jaw. The creature tried to jerk away. Kevin tightened the reinforced connection. Julie struck the exposed throat. Her venom entered beside the hook.

James planted one boot, pulled the warhammer sideways, and tore open the weakened tissue beneath the jaw. Blood flooded across the dark fur, and the wolf collapsed against him before sliding to the ground. [You have slain a Rune-Eaten Wolf — Level 11.] [Experience awarded.] The other two wolves remained alive. One dragged itself forward on a broken shoulder, while the second convulsed from Julie's released energy and venom.

James could have ended both quickly, though their weakened condition gave him the safest chance he was likely to get for another controlled test.

"Kevin, reinforce Julie," James said as he pointed toward her. The spider hesitated, his confusion coming through the bond immediately. James realized why and shook his head.

"Julie. Reinforce Julie. Please don't reinforce the wolf." Kevin fired a silver strand across the clearing. It struck the base of Julie's crest and spread along her spine. [Living Reinforcement applied.] Blue light appeared beneath Julie's red-gold markings. She stiffened at the unfamiliar sensation, tested her body with a slow twist, then launched herself toward the less injured wolf. Her speed remained unchanged. Her stability changed dramatically. The wolf struck her side as she entered range.

Kevin's skill distributed part of the impact along her reinforced scales and body, preventing the claw from concentrating all its force in one location. Julie wrapped around the creature's neck. She tightened. The wolf rolled through the dirt and clawed at her coils, while Kevin's silk shifted constantly to reinforce each section under the greatest pressure. His legs dug into the ground, and his blue markings began flickering within seconds.

"Drop it if the strain climbs too high," James said as he approached the other wounded wolf. Kevin remained focused on Julie, adjusting the reinforcement as she and the wolf crashed through brush.

"I know you heard me, you stubborn little bastard." The wounded wolf lunged despite its broken shoulder. James stepped inside its reach and struck the side of its skull. The first blow dropped it, and a second crushed the corrupted growth before enough energy gathered for another discharge. [You have slain a Rune-Eaten Wolf — Level 10.] [Experience awarded.] Across the clearing, Julie's coils tightened one final time. The wolf's neck broke. Its body went limp beneath her.

[Julie and Kevin have slain a Rune-Eaten Wolf — Level 10.] [Experience awarded.] Kevin released Living Reinforcement immediately. Julie uncoiled and shook herself. Kevin lowered himself against the dirt, exhausted enough that James felt the fatigue before he reached him. James crouched and carefully lifted the spider onto the warhammer head.

"Living targets are expensive," James said as Kevin settled across the reinforced bindings. He checked the spider's legs and found no visible injury.

"Movement forces you to keep shifting the reinforcement, and every impact adds more strain. Useful as hell, though." Kevin tapped one tired leg.

"You did well," James said as he stood. Julie approached with her head raised, clearly pleased with herself after wrestling a wolf to death.

"Next time, maybe don't spend everything trying to hold Julie together after she decides she's a constrictor." Julie stared at him. James looked at her new seven-foot body.

"Fine," he said as he crouched to inspect her shoulder.

"You apparently are a constrictor now." The red-gold markings where the magical beam had struck remained brighter than the rest. James ran two fingers near the scales without touching the sensitive area and found lingering warmth, though the attack had left no burns. The pressure he had felt earlier was gone after the bite discharged the stored energy.

"One beam from a Level Eleven monster was manageable," James said as Julie watched him closely. He remembered the pain that had traveled through their bond when the attack landed, and his expression hardened.

"We establish your real capacity over time. I have zero interest in finding the upper limit during a boss fight." Julie responded with confidence strong enough to qualify as a challenge.

"Of course you think you can take more," James said as he rose. Kevin sent weak agreement with James from the hammerhead. Julie immediately turned toward him again, and Kevin became extremely interested in a nearby tree. James laughed and looked around the clearing. The Rune-Eaten Wolves had been traveling east before they noticed the trio. Their tracks crossed something far larger near the edge of the corrupted ground, and James stopped when he realized the enormous impressions continued beyond the trees.

Each print was wider than his chest. Six separate hoof marks formed each track. Roots around the impressions had grown over one another in thick ridges, and pale green light pulsed through them in a slow rhythm. Several normal plants nearby leaned toward the tracks, their leaves larger and healthier than anything surrounding the corrupted clearing. James activated Workman's Appraisal. [Trail of the Runebark Behemoth.] [Regional Boss Territory influence detected.] The name hung in front of him.

A distant impact rolled through the eastern forest. Trees shook. Birds exploded from the canopy several hundred yards away. Then something enormous released a deep roar that carried through the trunks and into James's chest. Julie raised her head. Kevin's silk tightened around the warhammer. Excitement surged through both familiar bonds. James looked at them.

"You two are fucking insane," he said as Julie's markings brightened. Kevin tapped the hammerhead with renewed enthusiasm despite having been exhausted seconds earlier.

"We just discovered that your new abilities have limits, and both of you heard that thing roar and decided it sounded fun." Another impact came from the east. The huge tracks continued into deeper forest. Somewhere ahead waited the first Level Fifteen Regional Boss. James rested the Warpstone Warhammer against his shoulder and studied the trail.

Fighting the creature blindly would throw away every advantage his class gave him, and the difference between Level Ten and Level Fifteen was large enough to demand preparation.

"We scout its territory," James said as he started east. Julie moved alongside him, while Kevin remained on the weapon and stretched occasional threads into nearby trees.

"We learn what feeds its abilities, what it uses to attack, where it moves, and what the terrain gives us. We gain levels along the way." Julie accepted the plan with reluctant patience. Kevin's disappointment lasted several seconds longer. James smiled as another distant roar shook the leaves ahead.

"After that," he said as he followed the six-hoofed tracks, "we build a way to kill the bastard."