Looking over at the one still squirming, Andrew stared at it with almost palpable malice. The creature was still struggling and Andrew had no desire to let it go easily, however, a small idea came to his mind.

Taking a cursory glance at his surroundings, he saw the goblin still staring wide-eyed even long after the whole ordeal ended. Sighing loudly, he came towards the crippled scorpion.

With a few swings of his ax, it now lay still, though a few convulsions were enough to let him know it was still alive.

With the creatures no longer a threat, Andrew walked casually to the goblin.

“Taryk get your ass over here,” called out Andrew with a long drawn out sigh.

“Yeah! Sure thing Boss, that was incredible. By the way ,why did you just cripple the one? Couldn’t ya have just kill ‘em like that rest?” Asked Taryk who seemed far more excitable than usual, though considering the circumstances it wasn’t to surprising. “Going from certain deathmatch ‘ta life, Boss’ll show everyone how it’s done!”

“Idiot, it hurts - a lot. I know you’re not in much better of a state. Anyways you kill that one. Don’t be a pest and just do it,” spat out Andrew as he was coming to realise the state of his body.

In hopes of getting them up on their feet faster, or just because he didn’t want to carry or hear a complaining goblin, he left the last one alive in hopes of allowing Taryk to advance further in regards to his level. Essentially so he would have more points to throw into vitality. Which, from the description, was essential for a quick recovery.

With fervent, tear filled eyes, Taryk questioned Andrew continuously asking whether or not it was alright. And each and every time Andrew’s reply would become more annoyed. However, finally the goblin took his requisitioned dwarven mace - the morning star broke long ago - and hopped up onto the creature's carapace. With a few deep echoes from rocks shattering and decaying blood flying, the creature seemed to move no more.

Now finally looking at the notifications on his screen, he was shocked. After battling the hordes of slate covered men and women, the two gained considerable increases to their levels. Andrew gained five, whereas Taryk gained six. Likely, it was due to the original differences in level with the smaller enemies that come before. Where Taryk benefitted from it, Andrew did not, or well, not nearly as much as the goblin.

The other deciding difference was the higher leveled scorpions whose death granted Andrew a fair degree of progress in his ‘on-screen’ strength.

Taryk of the Cleaver Clan

Level 23

Defence Rating: 0

Str: 21

Agi: 20

Per: 18

End: 18 (-3)

Vit: 20

Int: 6

Wis: 6

Chr: 7

Status:

Severe Bleeding: Will continue to lose health unless treated.

Severe Bruising: Endurance will decrease by 3 until treated.

Skill:

Spear Handling (Intermediate 4): Any spear put into your hands is a machination of death and suffering for those that stand before you. However, for those that get within your reach be warned for they can easily spell death towards a careless novice or veteran alike. Bonus 16.5* % damage with all long handled polearm weapons. Increases armor piercing power by 16.5%. Increased chance of bleeding.

Mace Mastery (Beginner:3): While wielding a mace or similar blunt weapon damage rating increasing by 6%, armor destruction chance increases by 3%, and attack speed increases by 4%

Spoiler : Nerf, Author Fail :(

Andrew Marks

Level 25

Defense Rating: 19

Poison Resistance 5%

Str: 21 (+2) (+1)

Agi: 26 (+2) (+2) (+1)

Per: 25 (+2) +3

End: 19 (+2) (+1) (-3) (-3)

Vit: 22 (+2)

Int: 9 (+2)

Wis: 8 (+2)

Chr: 9 (+2)

Lck: ? (+2)

Affinity:

(Temporary) Small Poison Affinity: Grants the bearer a small chance of causing poison damage on each blow. If under the influence of a foreign poison or disease, the bearer will gain a slight bonus in recovering from, and bearing with, such an ailment.

Status:

Severe Bleeding: Will continue to lose health until treated.

Severe Bruising: Endurance will decrease by 3 until treated.

Bone Fracture (Rib Cage): Endurance will decrease by 3 until treated. Increases stress will cause the bone to fracture further.

Skill:

Dual Wielding (Intermediate:2): While wielding two weapons Damage Rating penalty is reduced by 42%. Penalty currently at 8%. Grants easier range of motion and knowledge of advanced techniques are granted at base level up of the skill.

Sword Mastery (Beginner:2): While wielding a bladed weapon, be it single or dual edged, the damage rating will increase by 5.5%, increases chance to sever limbs by 2.5%, and attack speed increases by 3.5%.

Ax Mastery (Beginner:7): While wielding an ax damage rating increasing by 8%, bleeding chance increases by 5%, and attack speed increases by 6%

Improvisation (Intermediate: 1): You arm yourself to the teeth before encounter any situation, using any available tactics and weapons in a manner to ensure your survival in this new age. Increases attack rating by 10% for all weapons. Increases hit chance and critical chance by 5% for all weapons (be in, physical damage based melee, thrown, or projectile). Spell failure rate decreases by 5% and spell duration increases by 5%. +2 to all stats including luck.

Already feeling the bruises and cuts begin to heal, Andrew simply laid on the ground to feel his body repairing itself with every blood curdling noise that came from his body’s cells.

After almost half an hour of this peaceful rest, Andrew raised his still somewhat weary body up off the ground. Taking a cursory glance over to Taryk, he noticed the goblin was in a deep sleep. Not having the heart to wake up the dreaming goblin, at least for the moment, Andrew stretched out his limbs. He was feeling somewhat refreshed, or at least in comparison to the screaming pain was in only a short time ago.

Looking over his side, he laughed mockingly to himself, “why am I cuddling a giant ax that is still covered in blood and that disgusting sludge? Ah, this is too much. Anyways, I don’t plan on giving this guy over to Taryk anytime soon,” however, as he looked more intently on the ax he was somewhat confused, “why the hell did it turn out like this? Did the bloody twits up in their offices decided to turn me into a demon? Hell, thankfully no one besides the sadistic goblin could see me with this thing,” though he spoke in such a manner, he didn’t stop cradling the massive ax in his grip.

With the now matte black head of the ax not even glimmering in the dim lighting, two wicked curves that seemed to pierce, rip and then finally sever limbs from the unlucky victims body. It was now a little taller than Andrew, though it hardly made much of a difference regarding its weight. Out of the new design came a three foot long ax head that seemed to be a cross between a pole ax, battle ax, and a badiche. Whether it was the long, opaque curves of the blade itself, weaving from left to right in a small ripple, or the jagged point at the top meant to bleed the target dry; it was clearly a symbol of death to those who bore witness.

[(Awakened) Axe of the Demonic Fury

Level Requirement: N/A

Durability: 50/50

Damage Rating: 23-35

As it consumers the life’s blood of the slain, it will automatically repair itself and further it’s evolution.

Taking many owners in the past, it has a long history of bloodshed that few other weapons can compare to. Armor is simply a burden when facing this weapon. Only the highest quality materials may stand up to this ax which was forged in the blood of tens of thousands.

Special Abilities:

Blood Lust: When in combat, the owner’s blood will boil - metaphorically, granting them increased strength for every individual they have slain, as well as temper their power for the opponents they have yet to end.

Blood Tempered: Soaked into it’s very core is the blood of those it deems unworthy. For an owner to be accepted, it will test their resolve while at the same time granting them the power they require to defeat their foes. When it is above 15 durability the weapon will be able to split rock and metal and easily as it would flesh, however, the resultant bloodlust will grow stronger in turn.

Evolution: For each enemy killed and granted the honor of feeding their blood to this weapon, this ax will evolve. Adopting different characteristics depending on those slain to further its lethality.]

With a small smile appearing on his face, he finally managed to take a glance at was lay in the distance behind the gargantuan scorpions.

A 5 metre wide tunnel was dug through the cavern walls, with some wooden timbers framing the walls and roof, it seemed to be well used at point in time. Even with small glowing ores giving off a dull light throughout the shaft, it still seemed endless to the man. With significantly sharper vision in the one remaining eye after the stat allotment, he walked towards the entrance out of simple curiosity.

Heralded by a soft rumbling in the cavern walls, the walls between the timbers seemed to come to life. With swaying arms and stocky bodies at least 50 inukshuks statues flooded the room. With a momentary pause, each lined up in two separate columns. One to the left and one to the right in front.

Cursing softly to himself, Andrew readied the ax that leaned on his shoulder. With the two lines now organised, the first pair attacked. Utilizing his approach on the dwarves, he merely swung the ax rhythmically low to the ground.

As the first was bisected from the knee, so too was the second. As they approached from each side, in an attempt to distance themselves from one another, they were met with the ax at nearly the same time. Following this another pair came from the line, then another.

Muttering as he finished up the last pair of inukshuks, “well, this is anti-climactic, were they this difficult to deal with before? No matter, I really want to get the hell out of here.”

Even as the noises from the scattering rocks sounded, the goblin simply paid it no heed and kept sleeping amidst the rocky corpses of the beastmen for some strange reason. Calling out a few times did nothing to wake Taryk, so he did the next best thing.

With a small shale fragment from one of the corpses thrown towards the goblin, he did end up waking up. Not from the rock, however, but a sense of danger that seemed to be planted into him over the past few days.

The frail rock, however, was crushed to a fine dust as soon as it exited Andrew’s grip, giving him a small sense of dissatisfaction.

With the dwelling on that feeling, Andrew and Taryk walked towards the tunnel’s entrance.

Taryk looked in awe at the inukshuk corpses that littered the way, but he restrained himself from speaking out. They past the rocky corpses and walked towards what he had hoped to be the exit - or the vault, should the old man’s information hold true.

With each passing timber joist that threatened to collapse with each of the consistent rumblings of the cavern, they neared their destination. With no enemies barring their way, the two made quick progress toward the end of the tunnel.

After about five minutes or so of walking Andrew noticed a brighter glow in the distance. With the previous orange torch light like ores emitting small amounts of light from before, the almost fluorescent white stood as a bright contrast.

Advancing into the light, the two felt their eyes water and sharp pain flashed for a moment before they readjusted from the pale darkness of the underground world.

Stumbling blindly for a moment, Andrew complained loudly, “damn, I only have one eye now thanks to that lion… wait where is that little bastard, hopefully he didn’t bleed out already. Assuming, of course, they can die that way,” while rubbing his temples and blocking out some of the light shining directly into the two.

“Don’t worry Boss. You seemed busy so I lined them up to watch the big fight, though they were alive before I don’t know about now. Anyways, food, treasure, or real sunlight. That’s all I want right now,” spoke Taryk. Thinking for a moment, he added, “actually, hell with it - all three.”

“Yeah, let’s get out of this place. Honestly, we can probably come back after we eat - even if I don’t actually want to.”

As there eyes adjusted to the intense light, they finally began to make out the small black door. Not in the mood for such intrusions, Andrew simply swung his ax towards the door itself.

As a loud, reverberating clank of metal erupted from the door, Andrew was inwardly somewhat distressed. Although a deep groove was cut into the metal, no other damage was seen.

While this was the first should a thing happened, Andrew quickly got over his confusion. Instead of targeting the door directly, he aimed for the surrounding rock frame.With a screech of metal grinding stone, the ax tore through the wall adjacent to the door.

The first slash cleaved a deep line vertically a foot from the door. The second further still and the third was a diagonal slash that sent sparks and rock flying away from the two grooves. In ten seconds a new doorway was created, this time, without the nigh impenetrable door.

After a short while of appreciating his handy work, Andrew entered the gap. With the same white luminescent ore embedded in the ceiling, the pair advanced into the room.

In the brightly lit room with a design reminiscent of a large cabin that had a 15 metre radius from the centre of the dome like room. In the dead centre stood a small, decaying wooden desk. Around that, however, lay something else entirely.

The two came to see the inner workings of the mage-turned-scientist, in large cages were cages of countless corpses. All reduced to pearlescent bone with the passing of time.

Some large like the three headed dogs that must’ve have exceeded nine feet whey were alive. Some small like the nine-tailed foxes that curled up next to their young as they slowly starved to death. Others were familiar like the two headed wolves and what seemed to be a snake with wings. Andrew pondered listlessly, “so the origin of those specific creatures are this guy? I thought it was that whorish Den Mother, though she probably couldn’t have done modifications of that nature. At most, ‘humanising’ some of the monster, either form or intelligence.”

In a few others petrified critters were kept caged. And upon being looked at by Andrew they pawed, squatted, and tapped the iron bars chaotically. Though, slightly sympathetic to their plight, he didn’t want to be known for destroying the ecosystem more than it already is with the released mutant wolves and snakes. Clearly those were what the mage deemed as successes and likely released a few select ones with pride to lay waste to the local fauna.

It could also be said that they were the ones lucky enough to escape however many years ago. After a few more moments of quiet contemplation, Andrew turned to see a fuming Taryk. Matching his gaze he was slightly taken aback.

In an attempt to create a new species, Goblin women, from their own bone position and that of their infant offspring, were forced to copulate with the massive three headed dog. In a single cage there were the bones of countless goblin women huddled in a corner and the massive dog laying in the middle. With a small chute attached, the offspring was loaded into another smaller cage by the women themselves.

Some canine, others goblin, most somewhere in between; each child was remarkably different. The only clear relation between them all was the only entrance being that small chute.

Shaking his head at the scene which could only be called disturbing, more so for the man watching it all happen, he turned his gaze to the more traditional style of a work area.

Walking over the old maple desk, topped with countless journals and research notes, he took a quick glance at the man’s most recent findings.

[Taking a look at the genetic structure of the creature known as the goblin, one can easily hypothesise their inherent ability to breed with various other canine races. With my advancements in perfecting the “Gaia” spell, it can be reasonably inferred that the cross breeding, both physically and magically, is entirely possible.

Due to the volatile nature of genetic manipulation results vary extremely. However, despite all this I was able to create a new race of sentient, (somewhat) intelligent humanoids. Adopting their stature from the goblin race and the instinctive responses of various canine species (with a little touch of my own) they excel where goblins may fail. With genetic growth as the outmost concern. ]

As it continued on and on about the various attributes of the goblin women and canines forced into the same cage Andrew skimmed over that part to look at what seemed to be the end of the journal fragment.

[....This is merely a means to the end, for should the prophecy come true, life as we know it will change. For that I need to design creatures that may survive the harsh conditions to come. Those who doubt me, so be it. However, those that I have created will stand against the turmoils of life - and thrive.

Empires rise and fall, but the world does not. If no one stands up to that menace, no one will be safe. Me, my children, or the ignorant people who simply survive on a day-to-day basis. Given enough time I will try to see my children to their full potential, however, I fear that time is not on my side. One can only prolong death for so long. ]

After reading the first, Andrew gave up on the remainder. He had no desire to read about the cruel methodologies he utilised to create his so called ‘children.’ The entire laboratory seemed so cruel, nothing in this world could wash away the man’s sins, nor could anything wash anyway Andrew’s; his companions, or even the world’s population.

Ironically, it was a simple demonstration of the desire for bettering the world with a forced hand. No creature would want to take part in such an experiment if only it were to appease the one man. Be it human, goblin, wolf, or snake, none should be subjected to such treatment. But they were, even in the past such things were common and now where power reigns supreme, few can say otherwise.

Even with good intentions, the fact that they were not so much research subjects as they were guinea pigs vexed Andrew greatly. If they were mere subjects willing to take part then he would have had no issue with the whole premise, but that wasn’t the case.

Wanting to just leave and get out of the mine in its entirety, Andrew dragged the fuming goblin past the cages, research desks, and mason jars of preserved embryos, into the doorway he created.

Taking on final glance at the twisted laboratory, the man simply turned around and walked away. Advertisement Support "Ephemeral Cycle" PayPal Patreon Previous

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Chapter RSS About the author 3 Fictions 65 Posts 2 Threads Ambush Follow Author Monday, January 4, 2016 4:58:01 AM Canada Shy Penguin

Bio: Chronic Inability to Finish Stories; CIFS for short. A major affliction that has gripped me in its steely maw for weeks, months, and (shivers) shows no sign of stopping.

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