Eric found himself floating in a vast body of water neither sinking nor floating upwards, with darkness surrounding him from all sides. He was just suspended in the depths of it.His eyes were open but they were listless and dull and he didn't look like he was drowning. He just seemed lost.‘I can't feel anything. I can't see anything. Where am I?’ Eric's face betrayed no emotion as these thoughts flowed into his head.He had been overwhelmed by this body of water.Yes, I remember. I was taking in this fast flowing water from a source in order to contain it. It was working perfectly until the source burst and let all the water into me. Now look at me I'm drowning.I'm a lonely soaked and wet sponge being thrown into the ocean to absorb its essence. I can't absorb anymore, I can't take more water in anymore, I'm oversaturated. I'm-Eric's mental rambling stopped when he saw something coming from the depths to drag him.Ah, it's just like that time when I killed a weakened Denizen. I'm
Eric, or rather whatever was inhabiting his body, gave the Samsara Serpent a sinister look and then scoffed. [Mimicking Supernatural Grade 8, Samsara Serpent…] [Accessing your knowledge sea…] [You lack sufficient knowledge about the Samsara Serpent.] [Checking Essence Constituents…] [You possess 99% of a weakened Samsara Serpent. The mimicking process has begun.] [You have successfully mimicked a Supernatural Grade 8 Samsara Serpent.] [+60 Intelligence; +50 Health; +50 Strength; +75 Speed; +85 Durability; +40 Perception; +50 Stamina] “Not bad, snake. Not bad.” Eric's dark voice resounded. “But I'm not done.” [You've successfully mimicked Awakened Grade 5 Ferrous Rat.] [+5 Strength; +15 Speed; +25 Durability; +5 Perception] [You've successfully mimicked Awakened Grade 5 River Denizen.] [+10 Durability points; +5 Speed points; +3 Strength points] [Strength: 65 (+58)] [Speed: 49 (+95)] [Durability: 66 (+120)] [Intelligence: 79 (+60)] [Perception: 45 (+45)] [H
Eric’s charred arms were already regaining colour as he flew forth towards the serpent that was just regaining clarity from the reflected attack. He was regenerating his lost mana and health just like the serpent would. Although it wasn't as perfect and flawless as the serpent's own, it was still useful for him to continue the fight.His eyes, however, still remained unfocused and hazy as he continued to fight.His fist connected with the head of the serpent and a series of slashes appeared on the serpent's head.Lucency returned to the countenance of the serpent and it let out a loud wail, releasing its hood as though it was a cobra.“Oh? Is that a method of intimidation?” Eric said darkly, with a devilish smirk.The eyes and the body of the serpent started to excessively leak mana essence, potent mana essence like fumes being exuded from a large frozen substance.“You are going to die!” The serpent said with a gutteral snarl.A normal person would have heard the serpent hiss and sna
Eric's eyes were severely and intensely unnatural, perfectly resembling that of the Samsara Serpent; a bright burning azure sphere in a much brighter azure sea of mana essence.The sclera was the sea of blue burning mana essence and the pupil was the burning sphere.Asides that, some part of his skin perfectly resembled that of the Samsara Serpent; a seamless metallic hide with a perfectly harmonised combination of azure and gold alongside several odd symbols and glyphs.The part of the skin covered were mostly his forearms, part of his face, a large part of his chest and torso, as well as his waist downwards to the sole of his feet. He was also currently devoid of any cloth.To top it all off, he was bathed in the same mana essence that the serpent exuded and also had a personal aura of a Supernatural Class entity.The three boys involuntarily swallowed and tensed at the sight.“Don't interfere.” The Samsara hybrid Eric in front of them said and walked forward towards the serpent tha
The rest of the cohort watched as two serpents struggled in the distance, destroying stalagmites and pillars as they struggled.“That… Has Eric been always capable of that?” Jasmine's weak voice came, disrupting the silence.“To be honest, I don't know.” Matt answered, his voice portraying his constant surprise. He then caught himself and scowled at her.“Why the hell am I even answering you? Don't ask questions and stay silent. You're lucky to be alive!” Matt retorted and scoffed before muttering something indecipherably under his breath.Jasmine returned the scowl and scoffed as well.A couple of them had recovered their mana, while some were still in the process of recovering.Amy had gone ahead to heal all the wounds of the cohort, including Jasmine’s lost arms.“I should reconsider call him fodder because if I look at it, we're the fodder.” Nelson said with a soft voice and shook his head. “Yeah, I'm calling y'all fodders as from today. No dispute about that because, you all can'
The breath of everyone was involuntarily stifled as Eric turned his attention to them from within the massive dust cloud.The large shape of the serpent within the dust shrunk rapidly turning into a humanoid shape. The humanoid walked forward towards them, exiting the cloud of dust.As he walked forward, his ethereal fiery azure eyes shifted focus from one member of the cohort to the other.From Maric, he simply nodded. To Amy, he let a soft smile grace his features. To Matt, he maintained the smile. To Mr. Baker, he continued to maintain his soft smile. To Chuck, his smile became somewhat taunting as though he was about to make a rude joke. To Erica, his facial expression softened and he furtively nodded. To Nelson, his soft smile became a dark smile as though viewing a allied rival. To Jasmine- to Jasmine…He stopped advancing and arched his neck to the side. His burning blue eyes that were starting to embrace clarity and limpidity became agitated and unfocused again.“Oh sh*t. Ah s
Cool sea breeze caressed the bodies that sprawled on the cracked asphalt beneath a spatial anomaly.One of the bodies moved and stirred, before opening his eyes.His brown eyes scanned the floor since it was the first thing it saw.“Asphalt?” The person muttered before a smile slowly crept to his face. “Asphalt?!”He screamed in happiness and kissed the floor multiple times, caressing it with his hands.“Stop being noisy fodder!” Nelson's voice came out angrily at the noisemaker.“Sorry. I'm just excited that we're back home.” Chuck said nervously with a genuine smile.Nelson glared at him before softening his expression and finally smiling softly.“Yeah, no place like ho- oh my God!” Nelson was about to acknowledge Chuck’s words when he turned his gaze to the horizon.Everyone's gaze was glued to the horizon.“Where did New York go?” Eric asked with a befuddled expression plastered on his face.“Is this even New York and not a random position in the world?” Amy asked him with a stif
The sun had long set and the platform was looking severely brittle with numerous cracks and fissures running along its form.“Whenever you're ready, sis.” Eric said with a nod.She was standing at the edge of the platform, her eyes on the large expanse of ocean before her.She steadied her breathing, inhaling and exhaling slowly.“I'm ready.” She said with a nervous nod and her breath turned cold, mists of low temperatures exuding from her every breath.The surrounding temperatures dropped steadily as she prepared herself.The others as well tensed their bodies, ready to execute Eric's plan.Erica walked back from the edge by about four steps and then ran forward and leapt off the edge of the platform.She held her breath as she plummeted for the dark waters below. The wind rushed past her face, blowing her hair upwards. Her heart was pounding hard in her throat as she fell but she tried to keep calm.She closed her eyes and pushed her hands forward towards the water. From her core, s
Matt, after dumping frag grenades into the forest haphazardly, proceeded to conjure several clones of himself and clad them all in a protective and flexible armour. Each clone wielded a futuristic rifle and they all numbered up to seven excluding the main body. One of the rewards he received from the system after the rift expedition was a Trait evolution from Armament Creation to Digital Constructs. This not only allowed him to conjure up otherworldly futuristic weapons but also digital clones, armours, shields and basically anything else. He's limited by his own imagination and mana reserves. The best thing about it was that mana wasn't expended to maintain his constructs. He only consumed mana when creating or fixing his constructs as the very existence of those constructs were free of charge. If he happened to dismiss any of his construct or if they happen to be destroyed, he will receive half or a quarter of the mana used to conjure that construct respectively. “I'm going to ne
The following day came very fast and they were all gathered at the mouth of the cave, all around Eric. “Let's not forget that there will be opportunities for duels and gangbangs in this event so it'll test your prowess and how well you know how to use your abilities. Afterall, everyone here is a pinnacle entity of the Awakened class.” Eric started addressing his people. “I'm counting on that duel of a thing. ‘Tis one of the reasons I'm doing this in the first place.” Nelson said with a smirk. “Of course it is.” Chuck mumbled under his breath with a somewhat exasperated expression. “Oh don't worry, Chuck. You're not my prime prey, you're just the subsidiary prey.” Nelson said, comforting him. “Doesn't matter, Eric warned us not to underestimate anyone though. I pray you underestimate me, Nelson.” Chuck said as his face adopted a soft yet grim smile. “You'd be in for a surprise too.” After he said this, he chuckled darkly for a few moments, garnering several looks from the te
“Is that supposed to even be possible? It hasn't even been a week.” Matt said with utter surprise. “Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for you, sincerely.” He quickly added and smiled. “So which one did you get?” “How about we let it be a surprise for you all. We haven't really consolidated our abilities ever since we were chased into the rift by that monster.” Eric stated with a soft smile and a raised finger. Everyone looked at Eric with suspicion and Nelson shook his head and sighed. “What do you have in mind, fodder?” He asked his friend. “I thought you said you wouldn't call him fodder again.” Chuck glanced at Nelson with a raised eyebrow. Nelson shot him a mean look causing Chuck to withdraw his gaze with a wry smile. “I propose that we have a free for all match, an all out duel with each other or some kind of capture the flag game with our powers being used.” Eric answered him with a smile. “What do you think? It's a way to let loose before something serious occurs again.” “I
“How's the hunt?” Erica asked the remaining members of the cohort that just arrived into the cave. “Futile. There are almost no animals or game in these woods.” Matt responded with frustration as he dismissed his shotgun construct, causing it to dissipate in a digital glitch-like manner. “Yeah, the forest was quite peaceful asides the occasional chirping of crickets and you know, normal forest ambiance.” Chuck added succinctly as he sat on a small rock and heaved a breath of relief. Chuck and Matt had gone out to search for food for the rest of the cohort while Maric and Mr. Baker went out to confirm where they were. “Nothing like I've seen before Eric.” Mr. Baker shook his head and sat down as he began recounting his scouting experience alongside Maric. Apparently they had gotten to land after the glacier and ocean current brought them here. And they got to this place on a misty night at the edge of a rocky cliff. “The forest on this part is quite normal, if I do say so myself.
About two weeks had passed since the whole chaos of bounties ensued and the people now knew the consequences of their actions. The rewards of the bounties were automatically deducted from the one issuing the bounty, regardless of whether they had money or not. This has left many to be destitute in system currency and even many casually hunted. If one didn't know how to change appearance or hide from skills like Analysis and the likes, the hunted would not live a safe life. Following this development, as well, was the creation of several factions dedicated to bounty hunting and they have more or less ‘culled’ the useless bounties and claimed rewards for themselves, leaving the truly dangerous ones. Eric and co had finally reached land and it was a forest of some sorts, not too dense and not too sparse. They were currently residing in a cave, unsure of the next move they'll make. Amy and Nelson, especially Amy, were despondent about the fact that they lost something valuable that day
Everyone was adrift above a massive glacier, despondent and drained of all emotions and strength. There was an active ocean current propelling the glacier towards an unknown direction. Amy was still asleep and Nelson’s condition had stabilised due to his self-regeneration but it was still far from optimal. “What do we do now?” Chuck asked with a serious tone, seeing that Eric was just staring at the horizon where Jasmine and the man left for about six hours. “Cut it out, Necromancer. Let him process his thoughts and talk at his own leisure.” Matt refuted Chuck and shook his head. ‘He’s probably regretting keeping that girl alive back then.’ Matt mused internally before shaking his head. Countless moments of silence passed and Eric finally stirred, clenching his fists. The first light of day was just appearing from the horizon, painting it with a tint of surreal orange hues. Erica stood up from her spot on the glacier and walked towards her brother in hopes to get through to him.
Both of them withdrew, leaving a distance of at least 25 metres between them, while panting and sweating profusely. ‘Two for the price of one. That's Karma for you, you bastard!’ Eric cursed internally before cracking a smile. “Abyssal Aura huh?” The man gauged the stone in his hands briefly before stowing it away in his inventory. After a moment's deliberation, he smiled and said; “Given the fact that it's from you, King Noel, it is utterly valuable. And Theft never lies, this is the heaviest skill you have and by the looks of it, you haven't even used it yet.” He then chuckled and rambled on, “I presume it's what makes you you and it is greater than the Samsara inheritance you possess. My mission here is complete, I even had some bonuses as well.” ‘Yeah, keep d*ck-riding yourself. Theft just got scammed by a higher skill, I'm the MC, you bastard. I'm Him! The Exclusive One!’ Eric chanted internally, his glee and happiness was immeasurable. Contrary to his feelings, his face w
Mr. Baker stretched his hands forward and encompassed the unconscious Amy in a forcefield bubble, quickly taking her away from the man’s presence. The man didn't bother stopping him because he had gotten what he wanted from her. Even if he wanted to stop them from taking her away, he might fail in doing so and it might prove fatal for him due to Eric's unstable state. “Is she alright?” Chuck came over and inspected her. Everyone also gathered around her in concern. Matt frowned his face and shook his head. “Although it's not Analysis, my Vital Vision is detecting an anomaly in her body. It's like a void or a vacuum in her essence-body.” Matt explained and deactivated his skill before adding succinctly. “Asides this, she's alive.” Erica pursed her lips, placing the back of her hand on her forehead. “She's… feverish. Dammit, what did that bastard do to her?” Erica cursed, an out-of-character behaviour because she was upset. “Two people should stay with Nelson and Amy while the
Eric watched with trepidation as the blackened hand of the man pulled a brightly glowing golden gemstone from Amy’s chest.It wasn't that he plunged his hands physically into her chest, rather, his skill allowed him to directly come in contact with all the essence of his target as well as all the various constituents within that target.It was putting your hands through a lake and pulling out whatever was inside. Basically, the heavier it was, the more valuable it seemed within the target.Amy was currently unconscious, held up by the man's grip on her neck and oblivious to whatever was going on.“Erica!” Eric called out to her twin, who swiftly responded.She came over and took Nelson from him while Eric ran forward insanely fast to take Amy from the hands of the man.The two other clones have been dispatched with one crumbling totally into decaying flesh and putrid blood and darkened pus-like substance while the other was totally obliterated and mauled by Maric's weapons and Matt's