MagnusGrey
patreon
[Skill-Eater 2] Chapter 55: Brief Respite
🕑 Added 2025-03-19 17:02:00 +0000 UTCOnce the demon was lying dead in the dirt, the crew harvested its teeth, claws, tail-barb, and horns, then used Tessa’s powder to get rid of the remains. Edge put the horns into his pack, and after making sure that nothing else was lurking nearby, the hunters sat down to recover from the grueling ordeal.
“Those horns look valuable, and the rest of these parts should sell well too.” Fox took a rag out of her pack and started wiping down her boltcaster. While she spoke, Edge cleaned the blood from his skin and armor, watching with interest as his garax-leather gear repaired itself.
“We have three hours until we need to turn around and head back toward the entrance. Since we reached the end of the maze faster than I expected, I think we should survey the next zone rather than exploring more glades. There’s no guarantee that the path will be clear by the time we return, and pressing on will provide valuable information for Gram to mull over while we sleep.”
Everyone else felt the same way. Edge rose to his feet before Lilly gestured for him to sit back down. “Not so fast. We’re going to rest here for another half hour. You probably don’t feel it yet, since the adrenaline is still flowing. But even with high Endurance, the stress from fighting powerful monsters will grind you down like a millstone if you don’t stop to decompress every now and again. Make sure to rehydrate and eat something before we head out.”
It was a sensible suggestion. Now that she mentions it, I do feel tense, and it’s hard to bring my thoughts into focus. While everyone did their best to unwind, the people who had cycled up spent their points. Edge hadn’t managed to hit cycle twenty from the fight, although he had a feeling that he was close. The cycles were coming slowly now that he was nearing the peak of stage one, and the crew had split the experience six ways this time. However, he didn’t come out of the fight empty-handed.
By conditioning your body, your Endurance has increased by 1.
By conditioning your body, your Power has increased by 1.
The others had made some significant gains too. On top of picking up another cycle, Mel had advanced Force Cleave to rank two. She chose an upgrade that let her detach the force blade and launch it about ten feet, which would let her dish out damage from further back going forward.
When she was done looking at her menus, the redheaded warrior walked over and sat down beside him, close enough that their shoulders were touching. She turned to look him in the eyes and said, “Thanks for the save, Edge. I owe you one.”
“No problem. I know you would do the same for me, and I’m the only one who can stitch myself back together.”
“I would. But even with Regeneration, that must have really fucking hurt. You saved me from a world of pain and kept me from being forced out of the dungeon on my very first day. I appreciate it, and I’ll find a way to return the favor. The least I can do is replace your shield.”
Edge didn’t want to trivialize the gesture by objecting. Instead, he nodded, reached over, and clasped Mel on the back. Then he opened his bag and dug into his provisions. While the crew enjoyed a post-battle lunch, everyone reviewed their performance, and the veteran hunters offered some tips based on what they had observed.
By the time that he was done eating, he was feeling more energetic, and his mind was clearer than before. Lilly is right. The stress of battle can wear you down without you noticing.
While they were resting, Tessa used her skills to scan the boundary of the clearing, trying to get a better idea of what they were walking into before the crew continued their mission. “There are definitely stronger monsters ahead,” she said. “Although I don’t sense anything within a hundred yards of our position. The magic permeating the next zone feels different, but I won’t learn more until we head inside.”
Twenty minutes later, everyone had cooled off and the crew was ready to proceed. “If we run into a monster, don’t engage it unless it attacks.” Fox gestured for emphasis.
“It’s better to evaluate each target, come up with a plan, and sweep the area for other hostiles first. If we get separated for any reason, meet back here if you can. Otherwise, retreat to the dungeon’s entrance.” Edge nodded as the team approached the border of the clearing and took their first steps into the adjoining zone.
The first thing they noticed was that there weren’t any trails leading deeper into the Savage Garden. Instead, the foliage forming the maze thinned out, transitioning into a zone that looked more like the jungle outside.
Although they had to remain on guard against ambush and didn’t know what to expect, Edge let out a sigh of relief upon leaving the twisting confines of the narrow pathways, with their imposing walls of vegetation boxing him in. The hunters were able to walk in a loose cluster instead of a long line, which left them less vulnerable to being picked off, especially Jumo and Edge.
They were heading toward greater danger, but the terrain in this zone was far more favorable. They could still be attacked at any moment, but it would be easier to see trouble coming. Better still, they could fight in formation without being forced to retreat to a clearing to have enough room to maneuver.
“The corrupted magicytes are growing thicker,” Tessa reported as they walked deeper into the zone, keeping the bamboo wall on their left so they didn’t get turned around. Edge couldn’t sense the difference himself, but the stench of the filth had grown stronger, revealing that the monsters inhabiting this region were even stronger than the others they had faced.
The hunters would have to watch out for more peak stage-two opponents, possibly even monsters that had evolved to early stage three. While Snake assured them that the six-member team could handle some stage-three enemies with proper preparation and a solid strategy, others would be too tough to tackle alone. If they ran into something particularly powerful, they would send up a flare to mark its location, then consult with Gram and solicit help from the other clearing crews before taking it on.
Rather than trying to survey a wide swath of the zone, which they decided to call “the jungle” for reference, the crew decided to keep following the dungeon’s wall. They planned to advance for another two hours, learn whatever they could about the region’s inhabitants and theme, and take a peek into the next zone over if the opportunity presented itself. Then it would be time to head back to base camp, report their findings, rest up, and come back bright and early the next morning.
With any luck, the reserve crews would have culled a fair portion the monsters living in the maze while Edge was asleep, and Team Arrow would have an easier time reaching the jungle the second time around.
They didn’t run into anything threatening over the next hour, although there was ample evidence that the monsters were warring here too. “I don’t see any of the corrupted pools,” Edge said. “I wonder what they are fighting over in this zone.”
“The magicytes are distributed more like a normal dungeon here,” Snake replied. “The monsters are absorbing them from the air and ground, and even more from devouring each other. I suspect that there is another type of corrupted resource here too—more concentrated than the pools but less ubiquitous.”
“It probably grows in random locations rather than a preset layout,” Fox added. “Like how mana seeds form in the wild. We will know more once we make it back to camp and learn what the other crews discovered.”
The hunters made good time as they pressed ahead, only stopping to avoid a peak stage-two centipede that Fox and Snake didn’t like the look of. The crew came to a stop when the trees began to thin, revealing a sizable hillock in the distance. Since it was a perfect spot to survey their surroundings, they decided to climb the rise, see what they could see, and then double back and head for the exit.
The hill was taller than most of the trees, and after they ascended to the crest, Edge was able to get his first good look at the dungeon’s layout. When he took out his spyglass and peered into the distance, he discovered that the Savage Garden’s third zone was some manner of swamp, which is what they decided to call it.
The swamp was an inhospitable landscape filled with shallow pools and vast stretches of mud. Thin fingers of dry land wove their way across the zone, presenting a maze of a different sort. Anything could be lurking below the water, and the crew would be under the constant threat of ambush while crossing it if it wasn’t for Tessa’s mana sensitivity.
He could make out crocodile and serpentine monsters in the distance, as well as the profiles of distant flyers. After Fox pulled out a map and added everything in sight, the crew started walking back the way they had come.
By this point, everyone was growing tired, and they decided to wait until tomorrow before picking any more fights. Edge still needed to steal some skills, although he could always do a bit of solo hunting near base camp if he didn’t get a chance before leaving the dungeon.
Since the jungle offered superior visibility to the maze, they were able to observe several of its inhabitants on the march. The hunters learned that although the theme of the Savage Garden was every creature for itself, they didn’t always fight alone. Sometimes, the monsters formed temporary alliances of convenience, which lasted until their prey was dead before erupting into a storm of violence.
Twenty minutes after leaving the hillock, Team Arrow discovered something vital regarding the nature of the dungeon. As it happened, the boss wasn’t the only elite monster in here—the Savage Garden was home to other entities that were pure nightmare fuel.
A sensation of overwhelming danger broke over Edge, just as Tessa flashed a hand signal indicating that she had detected something too dangerous to fight. He realized that he could feel the ground rumbling beneath his boots. Something big was coming, and it was almost on top of them.
Comments
Bryan Dickerson
Don't worry, he's going to get another chance soon.
BlackFire13th
I’m sad edge didn’t get to grab any of demon’s skills. Even the durability passive would’ve been a nice addition.
