Chương 23: Chapter 22: Shifting Tides

Thalion had fed throughout the night, occasionally experimenting with the sanguine thorn. He tried testing if the boost applied to all his forms, but it only worked in the form bonded with the sanguine thorn. His glowhorn form had reached level 25, while his human form lagged behind, with the shadowstalker at level 23.

You have reached Level 25 You have gained 26 Intelligence Feeding on those berries had been worth it, though there was a hint of sadness knowing it would be the last time he would do so in his glowhorn form. Back in his human form, it was time to activate the arcane synergy skill. He transferred manawave and tectonic slam to his human form, and natural resilience and verdant consumption to his shadowstalker. Activating morphic adaptation, he moved the sanguine thorn to his human side.

This time there was no pain, just a rush of unbound power. His race instantly shot from common to rare rarity, and the skills related to the sanguine thorn appeared on his status screen. It was done. Thalion took a deep breath, feeling a strange mix of exhilaration and loss as he discarded the glowhorn form. He had relied on its strength, but the Thorn's hunger for blood demanded a different kind of power. He knew what he had to do next: a hunt.

The Thorn couldn't drink enough blood in his glowhorn form without causing him serious harm. Even with his high recovery, he needed to feed it more blood to progress quickly. His strategy was clear, stay on this stage until the next system shop, then advance. He didn't have any weapons or armor, while those on the higher stage likely had both. Gaining a new form could wait, for now, he needed to focus on survival and strength. Before the hunt began, there were two tasks to complete.

First, he took out the orc corpses he hadn't had time to eat yet, along with the last vampire. He activated blood harvest, and a vine shot out from his hand, burying itself into the orc corpse. Moments later, the orc was just an empty husk. The Thorn didn't seem to enjoy it much, probably because it wasn't fresh. The vampire, however, was a different story. Thalion felt a wave of satisfaction as the Thorn drained the corpse of blood, confirming that this was indeed worth it.

He transformed into the shadowstalker and devoured the remaining orcs, bringing him to level 24 and permanently gaining 11 strength, which was almost equivalent to an entire level's worth of stats. He distributed the free points from the level-up into vitality, dexterity, and toughness, balancing his build to ensure he was tanky enough to make the most of the glowhorn skills. He also devoured the drained vampire but it felt like eating sand. Didn't give any stats and just 3 exp which was nothing.

So he could either feed the blood to the sanguine thorn or eat them. Doing both and gain double was not in it. With those preparations complete, it was time to find some prey. Thalion shot into the jungle, his senses sharp and his hunger for power driving him forward. The first creatures he encountered were massive carnivorous rabbits, each around level 23. One posed no threat, but forty of them together were a real challenge.

As a shadowstalker, Thalion bit down with his piranha-like teeth, tearing into their thick fur. The sheer number of rabbits forced him to leap back multiple times to avoid being overwhelmed, but in the end, his strength prevailed. With a powerful swipe of his paw, he sent the rabbits flying, some dying instantly from the force of the blow. After half an hour of relentless combat, all the rabbits lay dead at his feet, save for a few that had managed to escape.

He devoured the remains, feeling the surge of power as he finally reached level 25 as a shadowstalker. The feast also granted him an increase in agility, with 4 points added to his stats. He invested his free points into Strength, pushing it to 156, his strongest stat by far. Energized by his victory, Thalion moved on. It wasn't long before he spotted his next targets. A group of six humans from another planet, all wearing blue robes adorned with a peculiar emblem.

He watched them from a branch 20 meters above the ground, their obliviousness to the lurking danger almost amusing. Though he was eager to kill, Thalion restrained himself, curious about their conversation. The way their heads bobbed and one of them gestured wildly suggested something intriguing.

"Did you hear how the slaves tried to escape?" asked the long, thin one.

"Yeah," laughed the man beside him.

"They actually thought they could outrun us. Pathetic, weak creatures. Did you drown a few to set an example?"

"Of course. You should have seen their faces," the thin one replied, grinning.

"'Please, let him go,' they begged, then they started crying. It was too much fun. I slowly drowned over ten of them. They're all obedient now and very useful as field workers or bait." Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"I heard about that," a woman chimed in, her tone curious.

"Did it really work, letting them swim until one of the sea beasts got them?"

"It worked too well," the thin one replied.

"I suggested to the council that we use them all as bait, but they insisted crafters are more important. Still, when they mess up, they're fish food."

"We'll just need to find more," the woman said, sighing.

"But for now, I'm just glad to rest before the next hunt." That was enough for Thalion. He was also a killer, but he never enjoyed it like those people. Well, maybe throwing fireballs at Thorwald had felt good, but that guy had a nasty personality. They passed by right under the branch he was hiding in, and he launched himself from the tree, landing on the woman and crushing her instantly. Without hesitation, he bit down on the thin one's head, killing him before he could react.

In a swift motion, he spun and ripped open the chest of another man with a swipe of his claws. The remaining two reacted quickly, one casting an ice shard spell at him while the other summoned a wave that surged toward him. Thalion ignored the ice shard, letting it strike his shoulder as he charged the first mage, making the wave miss its mark. He bit down on the fourth survivor, then turned to the last one, who was fleeing in a panic, casting water spells wildly in every direction.

The wound from the ice shard had already healed by the time Thalion caught up with the man, biting off his leg and sending him crashing to the ground, screaming in agony. But Thalion wasn't done. He shifted back to his human form and summoned the vine of the sanguine thorn, binding the man's arms tightly to his sides.

"Where is your so-called city?" Thalion demanded, his voice cold.

"Just in the direction we were walking! Please, don't kill me!" The man begged, his voice trembling.

"Who is the strongest there?" Thalion continued his interrogation.

"And how many slaves do you have?" Thalion hoped that he maybe would be able to free the slaves and kill as many of those fuckers as possible to make life for his fellow humans from earth a bit easier.

"There are multiple parties with members at level 25, and we have hundreds of slaves. If you want to buy some, I have connections." The man's plea was cut short as Thalion activated blood harvest, draining the life from him and the other two corpses. This was not good; there was no way he could free them all with multiple people at level 25. But why not kill some of the blue robes and free some slaves? The progress he would make from killing those other humans should be worth the time and effort.

In addition, he would help the slaves, which sealed the deal for him. He searched their spatial rings, but they held little value. One contained a map marked with locations, and a name stood out under a black cross: Midnight Sunrose. A garden, perhaps? Thalion wondered. He pocketed one of the blue robes, just in case, and incinerated the corpses with a fireball, ensuring no trace of his presence remained.

With the nuisance dealt with, Thalion transformed back into his shadowstalker form and sprinted toward the city. The fight had been easy, he mused, but then, they were weaklings. The strongest had been level 19, and he'd been one of the first to die. The others were around level 13, and even that ice shard spell was pathetically weak. After ten minutes of running at full speed, the city came into view. It wasn't just a city. It was a fortress with 10-meter-tall stone walls and imposing towers.

The entire structure spanned at least one kilometer. At its center stood a massive castle, towering at least 40 meters into the sky. Thalion had hoped to free some slaves, but seeing this, he realized that would be no simple task. Beyond the city lay a vast body of water, likely a lake, given the absence of waves. Only the robed figures patrolled the walls. He should have asked more questions, but who could have anticipated this? They had spoken of using slaves as bait, yet there wasn't a single boat on the lake.

Perhaps it wasn't true, or maybe the boats were hidden. His next move would be to investigate the crosses on that map. <-- Kael and his group were on the move, distrustful that Thorwald would give up the hunt so easily. The best solution was distance. They had been attacked by orcs, losing two to an archer, but the rest had survived. Exhausted from the fight, Kael sensed that Thorwald was closing in.

"We need to slow them down if they're following us," Kael said to Kai and Sylas. All were worried and just wanted to get away from Thorwald. Most in their group weren't strong enough for a fight and would die quickly.

"Ambush them, then run?" Kai suggested.

"Sounds like a plan," Kael agreed.

"Everyone, move forward a kilometer, then head left. The jungle should be dense there. Set up camp like last night. Sylas, Kai, and I will join you later." They prepared a trap, if it could be called that. They hid in the trees, escape routes ready. Kael and Kai could easily outrun Thorwald's light warrior, while Sylas's wind spell would launch him to safety if needed. They waited, and soon enough, one of Thorwald's trackers appeared.

"Even better," Kael thought as he shot an arrow into the man's head, killing him instantly.

"Retreat," Kael ordered, quickly storing the body in his spatial ring. If they were lucky, Thorwald might assume his scout had simply deserted.

"One can only hope," Kael muttered as he moved to rejoin his group. Thorwald was furious. His scout should have reported back an hour ago. They had found the camp where the group had stayed, and Thorwald had sent the scout to track them while the rest hunted. Now at the beginning of level 24, Thorwald knew his men, all above level 21, were formidable. Yet those bastards kept slipping away. Maybe they wouldn't face them after all, at least not in this stage.

"I found a small settlement, 3 kilometers to the west," Joe reported after completing his mission.

"How many people, and what's their average level?" Thorwald asked.

"They're all around level 18," Joe replied.

"At least, those who were in camp. I didn't count them all, but there can't be more than thirty."

"Looks like we have a new objective," Thorwald declared.

"Alright, men, we'll leave the traitors alone for now. Maybe we'll meet them in the next stage. For now, we've got a camp of weaklings to teach about survival." With that, they changed direction, heading toward the new settlement.