《Ouroboros Ascendant》Chapter 53: Sure You Want the Gross Meat Magic?
Advertisement
The edge of the clearing had come alive with a nightmare cornucopia of twisted abominations, none of which were brave enough yet to edge into the open terrain that once served as the carnalis bloom’s hunting grounds.
“So, once we’re out of this shit, we need to talk,” Jack muttered to the others.
“Like, we need to talk we-need-to-talk, or like, ‘hey, I have a thing I need to tell you’, we-need-to-talk,” Layla furrowed her brow at him.
“The second one,” he stared into the jungle.
“Then say the sec-” she started.
“Will you two shut the fuck up? Look,” Rory jabbed a finger at the tree line, where several of the chimera had taken tentative steps toward the temple.
“Anyone see a hole we can slip through?” Erin was scanning the clearing.
“I do,” Layla stared at the dreadnought, until she turned and locked eyes with the succubus, her incredulous expression growing by the moment.
“There! Right there,” Jack pointed at a spot to the northwest.
“I don’t see any gribblies,” Rory’s voice held a dash of audible hope.
“We should go, now,” Jack pulled on Erin’s armor and began to head down the steps. “Layla, when we get to the edge, sweep either side of trees with dragonfire. Rory, do your disappearing trick. And Erin…”
“Yeah?” she glanced at him as they took the steps two at a time.
“Smash.”
-----
Jack’s plan was wildly successful, given that the metric was “get out of a terror-infested magic meat-forest while surrounded by a wriggling horde of blockbuster CGI movie-monsters and don’t die horrifically while doing it”. By any other reasonable metric, they muddled through by the skin of their teeth, coming out of the north side of the non-meat forest surrounding the Writhing Wood lacerated, contused, concussed, scraped, scratched, singed, corroded, and envenomated.
“Ugh, my health is still dropping. And my leg is numb now,” Layla pulled her dress up, revealing the cluster of stings on her calf, surrounded by suppurating bruised flesh.
Advertisement
“Here, drink this,” Rory reached into his Arcane Storage and produced a lime-colored potion.
Layla popped the top on the bottle and downed the contents.
“Tastes like mint, and goes down like how slugs look,” she wrinkled her nose.
“It’s a tier two magical antivenom,” Rory busied himself with digging amongst his storage.
“Is there anything you don’t have in your magic box?” Layla snarked.
“I could ask you the same, tart,” he grinned back.
“Oooo, that was good,” she laughed.
They marched for another few miles west, making their way back toward the shore, the relief of having left the Writhing Wood behind slowly overcoming the tense readiness of the past days.
“That was bad, right?” Erin started. “Like, that was the worst thing we’ve been through since getting here?”
“Yeah. It was… it was rough,” Layla breathed out a sigh.
“I suppose it’s too much to hope for a nice inn to just materialize on the beach when we get back to the coast,” Rory groaned.
Jack had been walking ahead of the group by a few yards, when he stopped short.
“Hey, so, remember that thing that I said I needed to talk to you guys about?” he said.
“Yeah, back up on top of the temple?” Layla asked.
“When I broke the heart, it gave me a bunch of aether and the Mutation magic skill,” he replied.
“Well, first, yay. And second, ewww,” Layla made a sour face.
“Of course, we’ll figure out how to split the aether, but I don’t know what to do about the skill,” he grimaced.
“It’s just a skill, Jack. It’s not gonna turn you into a monster,” Erin patted his shoulder.
“Actually, that’s exactly what it’s for. Each spell you learn lets you make a specific kind of change to your body, in exchange for permanently committing a small chunk of your mana to the change. If you release the mana, the change heals like a wound and the body part gets hard to control,” he replied.
Advertisement
“You can’t use it on enemies?” Rory asked.
“Yeah, you can, but the only one I could choose is called ‘Tumorous Malady’. I’m pretty sure it gives people super-cancer,” a quiver of visible disgust ran through him. “Every time you cast it, it does a buncha Spirit damage, and on a crit, they suffer an ailment called ‘Carbuncle’ that makes them vulnerable to physical damage for a short time. If they run out of Spirit, they get ‘Rampant Neoplasm’, which I’m pretty sure kills them.”
The horrified expressions shared among the other three were exactly what Jack had been concerned about in the first place.
“I’m not gonna take that spell,” he blurted out.
“I mean, it’s your build, mate. Just…” Rory shuddered.
“Mostly the options I have are stuff to increase Strength, Agility, armor, and a few that give entirely new body parts, like an extra finger or pointy claws,” he stared toward the distant sound of waves breaking against the beach.
“That doesn’t sound… so bad,” Erin took his hand.
“I’m really just thinking… you know… of not leveling it,” he squeezed her hand.
“I get that,” she smiled at him.
He pulled her close and hugged her tightly.
“But uh, can you teach me?” she grinned.
“You wanna learn to give people super-cancer?!” Layla gaped.
“No, I wanna give myself extra combat stats,” she stuck her tongue out at the succubus.
“But you have, like, garbage mana,” Layla winced.
“Yeah, exactly. I can commit smaller amounts of it to get permanent benefits, since I can’t really cast a bunch of spells,” she rolled her eyes at the mage.
“If that’s what you really want, yeah, I think I can teach it to you. I’m not sure if you’ll have to learn the Tide and Wood skills first, though. I got the skill as a… reward, I guess… for breaking the heart,” he waffled.
A member of your party wishes to accept [Gift of Mutation].
Would you like to relinquish this trait to Erin Amanda Ward?
[Yes] [No]
“Oh. Well. That’s unexpected,” he stared at the panel, then tipped it so Erin could see.
“That’s fuckin neat,” she laughed.
“I wonder how much of our builds we can swap around like this,” Rory pondered.
“Probably not much. I expect just stuff like that,” Layla replied.
“I don’t have anything else in my list that I can give up,” Jack offered.
“What did you do, go one by one and think about trading them?” Erin asked.
“Yeah, pretty much,” he smiled wearily. “Sure you want the gross meat magic?”
“Yep. I’ll be careful with it,” Erin grinned.
Jack waved his hand through the yes on his panel, then watched as a swirling mote of greenish-blue light drifted out of his chest and floated toward Erin. She reached out and grasped the shimmering spark of mana and it abruptly disappeared. She opened her panel and picked through the garbled nonsense as the others watched.
“I have an option open right now, so I’m gonna go ahead and take the one that improves Strength. It’s got a neat name, too. ‘Myostatic Augmentation’. Oh, and I got a tier zero spell for free. ‘Body Sculpting’. Ooooh, that’s cool. I can make little changes to my appearance. Seems complicated though,” she continued to scroll through her panel as she absently talked over the new skill.
“You get a free tier zero spell every time you learn a new type of magic,” Rory lectured.
Layla leaned over and whispered to Jack.
“You know, if she gets any stronger, she’s gonna be insufferable,” the succubus giggled quietly.
“Pfft. You think that’s bad. Think about what happens when she figures out how to make herself hotter,” he replied.
“Oh. No. Whatever will we do?” Layla rolled her eyes at him.
Advertisement
A dungeon core story: Magic with a hint of Science
Sometimes, you only feel alive after you have died and got granted a second chance.After a gamer and aspiring chemist dies and is granted a second chance in the form of a dungeon core, he decides to make the most out of it.Along with a knack for gaming and creatively using 'game mechanics', he also brings forth the power of chemistry, biology and physics to a medieval-like world where magic is real and where people level up to get stronger. This fiction has LitRPG elements and will contain stat based fantasy, some gore, some humour and most importantly of all, an MC who likes to unleash his inner mad scientist. Special thanks to Kaiverta for making my cover and on such a short notice; It looks amazing
8 233Darius Supreme
On the 15th of March 2139, the world mourns the passing of Darius Stone, billionaire broker, and philanthropist. Yet while his family and friends put his body to rest, Darius wakes up to find himself reborn into a younger body in a different world.A strange voice informs him that his soul has been transported into the magic-filled world of Faust on the behest of a mysterious Goddess called Vena, for the sole purpose of entertaining her through his struggles.In this world where any dream can be achieved with enough effort, he sets out to become a Supreme, an existence above Mortals and even Gods! —————————————————Warning: This novel features a villainous protagonist. If you have enjoyed Warlock of the Magus World, then you should be able to tolerate Darius Stone’s actions and choices throughout the novel. Note: This story is slow-paced in order to allow for better world-building and development. If you’re looking for a fast-paced action story, this might not be for you.
8 158The Revenge Story Of The Holder Of 【The Archives Of Knowledge】 In Another World
Kirishima Soma, a boy living in a post-apocalyptic alternate universe where magic exists is summoned to another world by the self-proclaimed Goddess of Love and Justice of that world only to be disposed of because he was too smart for her taste. He was sent to the “Bloody Hole” a dungeon used to seal the most dangerous of monsters only for him to get his hands on 【The Archives Of Knowledge】, an ability created from the resentment and desire of revenge against that self-proclaimed Goddess marking the start of his journey to get revenge on her. Proofreader: DestroyerMon(Thank You)
8 161My American Boyfriend (Bakudeku)
Who would have thought that Bakugo would be in a relationship?How would the class react when they first meet Bakugo's lover?How will they react to America ?•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
8 157Kiss It Better?
Work at the coffee shop closes up per usual late on a Monday evening. With a heavy head and dreary eyes, Y/n waves goodbye to her coworker and begins to head home in the downpour. Running into a peculiar Doctor that goes by the name of Henrik who shelters you from more than just the rain.
8 126the life of a real nymphomaniac
this is my story. this is every detail of all the sexual encounters i've had with various men. i'm opening my soul to you and all i ask is you listen and try not to judge. thank you. xxx, hunny
8 83