Apocalypse Healer - Path of Death-Chapter 10B3 b

“Are you ready?” Zachariah asked. “Or do you want to spar again?”

David was lying on his back, drenched in blood. Again. Several deep gashes covered his body, but neither he nor Zachariah paid much attention to them. They were already healing, either way.

He sat upright, ignoring his lurching stomach as some of the worse wounds tore open again, and smiled wryly at the Regressor. “No, and no. You’ve grown quite a bit—definitely more than I did in the last few months. Then again, I don’t think I fought any monsters during that time.”

David tilted his head and added, “Well, if we ignore the prehistoric monsters and the annoying Mountain Defenders. They deserved a good beating… and they turned out to be very good guinea pigs for my experiments.”

Zachariah snickered and sheathed his sword. “It makes sense for you to be weaker than me. Your Classes are very good, but I think it’s a good decision to focus on your foundation. Your Soul will probably reach the Transcendent threshold by the time you hit the Gold Rank. That is very good—and necessary to fight Fragments.”

The Regressor fixed his hair into a ponytail, shooting David a pointed look. “Then again, reaching the Transcendent rank with one status property can only be considered the starting point of the adult battlefield. Before that, you’re still a mere mortal, as the divines call it.”

David cocked an eyebrow. Even now, with all the strength he had acquired, the Pantheon and others like them still considered him a ‘mere’ mortal? That was disappointing, to say the least.

Whatever. I killed a Sacred Beast. And I ate it. He snickered. And, well… I will also bind it to me.

“Maybe you could fight a Sapling head-on, but that is hardly necessary. You have me by your side to help,” Zachariah continued, glancing at David from the side. “Regardless, I’m ready to depart. So is our taxi—Mirabella or whatever her name was.”

“Her name is Maja, and she is not a taxi. Didn’t you say Portaligists are rare? The least you could do is remember her name. Especially when she helps us.” David shook his head. “And I’m still waiting for the Artificer. She said she’d finish the fine-tuning today.”

“Since when are you like this?” Zachariah asked, looking straight into David’s eyes.

“Like what?”

“So nice to other people? That doesn’t suit you at all.” The Regressor snorted but decided to change the topic. “On another note, are you sure about the Beast Core?”

I am nice? What a jerk. Pay more attention to your own deficits and stop bothering me! David growled internally but decided against throwing that at Zachariah.

“Do you think I shouldn’t take the Beast Core?”

Zachariah thought about it for a moment with an unreadable expression, then shrugged.

“If you manage to absorb it and make it yours, it will benefit you greatly. I, for one, would take the risk. But I do not want to push you into doing something you don’t want to. If you’re up for the challenge, you should take it. If not, you can always wait until you’re ready for it.”

The Regressor’s ‘do whatever you think is right’ attitude was starting to get to David. While it was probably the best Zachariah could say, it was frustrating to no end.

It’s not like I am going to absorb the Beast Core. Not directly, at least. If everything goes according to plan, it will be much better than that.

David had thought about the Beast Core and its uses for a long time, but he hadn’t come to a final decision until he noticed the last update of his status screen. It had been surprising—though, in hindsight, it made sense.

Name: David Stears

Primary Class: Lifeweaver

Rank: Silver VIII

Secondary Class - [Herald of Origin]

Rank: Silver VII

Body: Middle (Superior)

Mind: High(-)(Advanced)

Soul: Middle(+)(Apex) : 66 Droplets

[Modification: III]

[Weave Optics]: [Bloodthrone Dominion]

[Promethean Constitution]

[Deryadus’ Arm]

[Laws: III]

[Law of Blood]: [High(Minor)]

Bloodlust: (Intermediate)

Rend: (Intermediate)

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Origin Attribute: (Basic)

[Legacy Skills: I]

[Dao Comprehension]: [Intermediate]

[Class Skills]

[Lifeweaver: IV]

[Equivalent Exchange]: [Tier-2 III]

[Weave of Life]: [Tier-2 XII]

[Sacrifice]: [Tier-3 II]

[Blood Manipulation]: [High: Basic]

[Monk: II]

[Aether Breath: Intermediate]

[Reinforce]: [Tier-2 I]

Body: Elite– IX(2.42%)

Energy Pathways: Elite– VIII(73.83%)

[Serene Ego: II]

[Mind Palace]: [Lowest: Intermediate]

[Soul Domain]: [High: Basic]

[Herald of Origin: III]

[Phantom Rush]: [High: Basic]

[Indomitable Will]: [Lowest: Advanced]

[Primeval Pulse] [High: Advanced]

[Skill Runes]

[Tier-1: IV]

[Heightened Vision]: [Tier-1 XII]

[Blood Blast]: [Tier-1 XIII]

[Blood Armor]: [Tier-1 XV]

[Purify]: [Tier-1 XV]

[Tier-2: V]

[Bloodbound Bastion]: [Tier-2 I]

[Herald’s Blessing]: [Tier-2 I]

[Healing Sphere]: [Tier-2 III]

[Chain of Will]: [Tier-2 X]

[Greater Restoration]: [Tier-2 XV]

[Basic: II]

[Healing Link]: [Low: Basic]

[Origin Lightning]: [High: Basic]

Attribute Points: 0

His status had changed—improved—significantly since the fight with the Mythica Electra and William’s Cohorte. For one, David had formed four Sparks replicating the powers he’d lost to [Sacrifice] during that battle.

[Healing Link] had replaced the Class Skill [Blood Patch]; [Chain of Will] made up for the loss of [Symphony Control], with special perks and stronger control to compel the minds of monsters and more intelligent lifeforms alike; and [Bloodbound Bastion] replaced [Blood Aegis]. Then again, the latter turned out to be too similar to [Blood Armor], just stronger.

David had yet to decide whether to let [Sacrifice] consume [Blood Armor] or wait until [Bloodbound Bastion] mutated—just like his greatest Spark, [Aether Breath]. He was sure to be close to grasping the intent of something whenever he worked on [Bloodbound Bastion], but it was increasingly difficult to direct it toward a specific Path.

Regardless, given the absence of combat, and the experience and understanding he would have gained from fighting powerful monsters—urging him to improve to live on—David was mostly satisfied.

But the most recent update that determined the Beast Core’s fate in his estimation was the addition of Deryadus’ Arm to his Modifications.

The Relic was now officially a Modification of his body. The System had accepted it as part of him, likely due to the heaps of materials stored in his defective spatial necklace. It was filled to the brim with a wide variety of materials and books for him to research, and that he did—ensuring he’d use the Relic properly.

Being able to absorb a wide range of materials, which turned out to be almost everything as David learned from a multitude of experiments, offered a myriad of paths to improve the Relic. However, it also provided just as many paths to destroy Deryadus’ Arm if it consumed too many or too much of the wrong resources, since the Relic didn’t seem to care whether the material it ate provided beneficial or detrimental effects.

So far, everything had turned out perfectly fine. The few mistakes David had committed in the heat of the moment had been fixed—mostly—transforming the Relic into a treasure trove. At this point, it had absorbed smaller quantities of rare and exotic, but also ordinary, materials, adding a few simple properties to the arm.

First, David could shift the arm and form it as he pleased—to a certain degree.

Second, it could hoard more Blood and improve its healing properties—courtesy of devouring an enormous amount of highly compressed Blood that had been refined to near-perfect purity using his own lifeforce, also compressed, and Origin Essence.

Third, he had nearly lost control of Deryadus’ Arm once, only to subdue whatever intent had been manifested in one of the exotic metals it had devoured, strengthening his bond with the Relic at the end of the day. He felt more attuned with the arm, and while it did not feel like his lost limb had regrown, Deryadus’ Arm was truly becoming part of him.

No, it has already become part of me, David thought, glancing at the status screen once more to confirm.

Thus, as the Ancient Relic of a Fallen whose name David had already forgotten, and now a part of him, he chose to risk it all.

In the worst case, I’ll just cut my arm off.

He shrugged, glancing at the golden sparks materializing in the space before them.

“Looks like the Artificer is done,” David said, hopping to his feet, turning to a familiar head popping out of the portal as it jumped into existence.

“I heard someone called for a taxi?”

Seriously? he rolled his eyes, deliberately ignoring Zachariah’s pointed look as he jumped through the portal.

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