Apocalypse Healer - Path of Death-Chapter 10B2 - Tribes?

How much more time will we waste playing with flowers? David groaned, watching Melach crouch before a small bush covered in long, black thorns. He saw Zachariah join the elf with a smile, pointing at the violet petals of a flower sprouting from the bush.

“This is a Hyura Shrub, isn’t it?” the regressor asked, sounding excited. “To think something like that would grow here!”

Silver light shrouded one of his fingers as he carefully cut the flower. “We can make serums if there are more of them.”

David snapped to attention. Could they use the flower to make serums? That would save them a lot of trouble.

Zachariah handed him the first flower with a serious expression. “Be gentle and store it away safely!”

“Of course,” David responded, though he couldn’t imagine what could possibly go wrong with storing a flower. He put it into the storage necklace and followed the odd pair as they continued gathering flowers and other magical herbs. They listed the names of every one of them, but David didn’t even try to remember. He simply nodded and stored everything they handed him.

Occasionally, when a glow to his right caught his eye, David glanced at Torb. The dwarf’s armor flared with bursts of light at times, looking much stronger than before. David wondered what method Torb used to reinforce it, but the mystery eluded him. Shrugging, he dismissed the thought.

“How about we move to the Core for some juicy fights?” he asked, suppressing a groan. Zachariah had been impatient all along, but he was suddenly the one wasting most of their time with flowers and other plants.

“Learn to be more patient. Ample preparation is the key to success and survival,” the regressor responded, though David could only roll his eyes.

They’d been roaming the prehistoric valley for hours, and not once did they fight. He doubted Zachariah had thought about fighting at all, given how his focus shifted entirely to the first plant life brimming with Aether.

“I found something interesting!” Melach exclaimed, turning to Zachariah and the rest. In his hand was a plant with roots shaped like a human body. David’s eyes widened at the grotesque, disproportionate face plastered on the green, almost emerald-glistening plant.

“Fuck!” David caught Zachariah’s curse, but the sound was quickly drowned out by a sudden, high-pitched scream.

David’s head rang, and his body felt like it might give out at any moment. His legs wobbled, and he was sure they’d buckle beneath him soon. The others didn’t seem to fare much better. Melach was already on the ground, blood trickling from his long, pointed ears. Even so, he clung to the emerald-glinting plant—until Zachariah’s blade flashed.

David barely noticed him move. The sword’s arc blurred, and the plant’s lower half landed on the ground with a thud. He was surprised he could hear the thud at all; it took him a moment to realize the high-pitched scream was gone. Only the relentless ringing in his head remained.

“A fledgling Emerald Mandrake… These things exist already?” Zachariah frowned deeply, sheathing his blade and picking up the mandrake’s lower half along with another object.

“The increased drop rate combined with something like the Emerald Mandrake is truly… unique,” he muttered, leaving David to wonder about the plant’s significance.

Zachariah turned to him, holding the mandrake in one hand and a Skill Slate in the other. Did the magical plant drop that? David took the mandrake from Zachariah and stored it, then approached him to cast [Healing Light], helping his body ease up again.

“Did the plant just scream at us?” he asked, continuing to tend to Melach until the elf looked better—and the bleeding from his ears stopped.

The regressor nodded. “Mandrakes are like that when they’re overflowing with mana. I don’t know how they mutated, but they scream when you pluck them. Regardless of their terrifying scream—which, by the way, could have killed us if I hadn’t split it in two—mandrakes are highly potent potion ingredients.

“Some of them, just like the Emerald Mandrake Melach found, are especially rare. They can be used for various extraordinary potions and unique serums, but most importantly, Emerald Mandrakes give birth to special items upon maturing. I don’t know how they do that, but these drops are usually great.”

Zachariah looked at the Skill Slate. “The mandrake wasn’t fully mature yet, but it still dropped something great. That’s probably the Blessing of the World’s doing.”

He turned to the dwarf. “Do you have an energy reservoir? You used an earthen Skill earlier, but it drained your Essence, didn’t it?”

David noticed Torb hesitate for a moment, something that struck him as odd. Zachariah, however, didn’t seem to mind. He handed Torb the Skill Slate with a thin smile. “Try it and see if you can use it,” he said. “I think the skill suits you well.”

David squinted at the Skill Slate, his curiosity piqued as he read the inscription: [Earthen Power (Protection)].

“A part of a Skill Rune Set?” Torb asked, his voice filled with surprise.

A set?

“If I’m not wrong, Basic Elemental Power Sets are made of four Skill Runes,” Zachariah commented. “I’m not sure about Earthen Power, but I’m confident it will transform into something incredible once you have all the pieces together.”

“Skill Runes can fuse?” David asked, earning a smug smile from the regressor.

“Multiple methods exist to merge Skills, but this is the most basic,” Zachariah explained. “Skill Sets. If you have all set pieces, the Skills will merge and form a stronger Rune of higher quality. The final Skill is usually also of a higher Tier.”

David’s mind raced as he processed the new information. Merging Skill Runes to create something of a higher Tier? That sounded immensely valuable.

“It’s useful to collect Skill Sets, even if you’re uncertain whether you will find all the pieces,” Zachariah added. “Skills in a set are usually interlinked and will augment one another.”

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He smiled briefly at David before turning away. “Either way, we need to hurry. Our little treasure’s scream seems to have attracted too much attention.”

Rustling and cracking sounds echoed from all directions, distant but rapidly approaching.

David conjured the Obsidian Blade in his hand, channeling Blood through Deryadus’ Arm and altering its form. At the same time, he noticed the slate in Torb’s hand crumble to pieces. He felt a sudden shift in the soil beneath them and heard the dwarf groan. Was there an issue? Torb glanced up, met David’s gaze briefly, shook his head, and turned away without a word.

David frowned at the odd exchange but said nothing. Instead, he spread his senses outward, feeling the life around him.

The prehistoric valley teemed with life and energy, bombarding him with information. Magical plants pulsed with power all around, but he focused instead on the rapidly moving lifeforms.

“We can’t avoid all of them,” he muttered, reaching out to grasp Zachariah’s arm and stopping the regressor in his tracks. “Follow me.”

Ignoring the complaints that followed, David walked calmly through the forest, Words of Power rolling off his lips. His eyes widened as he focused, his head flicking left and right. It was easy to locate the approaching masses of life.

Behind them, the chaotic sound of colliding creatures erupted as the masses converged where they had stood moments ago.

“How did you—” Zachariah began, but his words trailed off as David turned to face him.

“Since when are your eyes crimson?” Zachariah asked, his voice laced with confusion.

David blinked, his concentration slipping. “They are?” The pulsating life around him faded, his vision returning to normal.

“They were crimson a moment ago,” Zachariah said, narrowing his eyes. “Now they’re back to normal.”

Before David could respond, a tree ahead of them collapsed with a deafening crash. The ground shook as a massive, gray-skinned humanoid the size of a small building bulldozed through the thicket. Its body was covered in moss, but glimpses of its ‘skin’ left David doubting whether his attacks would leave a mark.

The source of this c𝓸ntent is frёeweɓηovel.coɱ.

“That doesn’t look like a dinosaur,” Melach snorted.

From the corner of his eye, David saw the elf begin chanting a spell. Torb cursed, drawing his attention.

“What is a Stone Giant doing here? Wasn’t this supposed to be a natural Rift of the Earthen Union’s prehistoric era?”

David raised his hand and cast [Blessing] on everyone, a golden light enveloping the group. He considered using [Symphony Control] to push the Stone Giant toward Torb but stopped when he sensed the surge of mana radiating from Melach’s direction.

He didn’t need to look to know what was happening. When a four-meter-tall Elemental made of hardened earth barreled past him, he was unsurprised.

Prepared, David controlled his Source with precision, overclocking his Skills as he reinforced Melach’s Elemental with [Blessing] and [Symphony Control].

The Elemental smashed into the Stone Giant with force, a black dove manifesting above its head. The Stone Giant looked unimpressed. It retaliated, kicking the Elemental hard and hurling it to the ground. The impact shook the earth beneath them.

As the Stone Giant’s massive fist came crashing down toward the fallen Elemental, a crimson shield materialized above it. The shield absorbed the force of the blow but shattered into fragments of light once the attack lost momentum.

David gasped, cursing the Stone Giant’s overwhelming strength. He raised his hand and hurled a dozen crimson projectiles at the creature. Each one struck with force, chipping away fragments of stone, but the Stone Giant didn’t seem to care.

The behemoth turned its attention to Torb.

The dwarf’s mace swung hard, smashing into the Stone Giant’s leg and sending small chunks of stone flying. The monster retaliated with a powerful swipe, but the attack was intercepted by another small crimson shield.

The shield shattered under the impact, but before the blow could land, an earthen wall rose in its path, halting the Stone Giant’s strike completely.

David couldn’t see Torb behind the wall but heard the clash of his attack. He also noticed the Stone Giant rising, its attention now locked on Torb. The Earthen Elemental didn’t remain idle, however. Rising to its full height, it grabbed the Stone Giant’s leg and yanked it away, forcing the monster to its knees.

Blue flashes streaked through the air, striking the Stone Giant and detonating on impact. Chunks of the Stone Giant’s body were missing, but Zachariah was nowhere to be seen. David lost sight of the regressor just as he prepared to recast [Blessing]. Then he sensed a familiar power from above and looked up, spotting a massive silver blade—like a broadsword—manifest in midair.

David cast [Blessing], though he excluded Zachariah, unable to locate him. Instead, he infused the sword blade, coating it in crimson energy just before it whipped downward.

The blade moved so fast it was only a blur. A piercing screech echoed as the blade struck, but the sound vanished just as quickly as the Stone Giant collapsed. It didn’t writhe or groan; it simply fell and lay motionless.

[You have contributed to the defeat of Task(Bronze VII)[Stone Giant of the Tari Tribe].]

David furrowed his brows as the notification flashed to life even before the Stone Giant hit the ground. Kill notifications usually appeared quickly, but never this instantly. It was unusual.

The Stone Giant hadn’t resembled any living being David had encountered before. Instead of a network of vitality, it possessed a single, unmoving lump of life. Zachariah had cleaved it cleanly, as though he instinctively knew exactly where to strike, killing the monster instantly.

“Did you receive the same notification?” Zachariah asked, stepping beside David. A bead of sweat rolled down his cheek, and tension marked his expression. “Are more Gates connected to the Rift?”

“You mean there will be more Stone Giants?” Torb asked, emerging from behind the safety of the earthen wall.

“Among other things,” David answered, pointing toward a massive figure heading their way. It cleaved through a tree with what appeared to be a colossal axe, closing the distance with every step.

“How can you tell?” Zachariah asked.

The figure’s details were obscured by the towering trees, but David wasn’t relying on ordinary sight. What he perceived was different. He focused on the rampaging lump of life—a massive humanoid unlike the Stone Giant. If all Stone Giants had a single, unmoving lump of life, this creature was something else entirely.

“It looks angry. The Stone Giant was emotionless,” David explained simply.

David recast [Blessing] on everyone and surged toward the approaching enemy. He coated the Obsidian Blade in [Holy Touch] and activated [Slash] before the creature came fully into view.

As he closed in, his gaze caught on the enormous blue double-headed axe, larger than he was, and a shudder rippled through him as he imagined it cleaving through him—or worse, his friends.

Next, he noted the monster’s red skin, bulging muscles, bloodshot eyes, and the overwhelming killing intent it radiated.

“A Berserk Giant,” Zachariah shouted from behind. “It grows stronger the longer the fight lasts. We have to kill it as quickly as possible!”

The Earthen Elemental surged past David, meeting the Berserk Giant head-on. The Giant barely acknowledged its presence.

The double-headed war axe plunged down, cleaving the Elemental cleanly in two with a single blow.