«↓ Congrats! You have slain a Crimson Cannibal ↑»
«↓ Congrats! You have slain a Crimson Cannibal ↑»
"Eeh... I have?!" he couldn't control his tongue as he asked with surprise.
Checking his possibilities, Laz doubted that he would be able to fight against the Crimson Cannibals without his sight. Even with his sight, he wasn't entirely sure he had enough edge of opportunity over them. And now, somehow, he has been congratulated for defeating the Cannibals.
'Okay, am I just going to be congratulated for killing the Cannibals? No reward or any...'
The system replied even before Laz could finish his thoughts.
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«↓ ... ↑»
«↓ Laz, your trial is yet to be completed. Only when you can succeed will you get rewarded with appraisal, which will show the effect the moment during your Bloodline Awakening... ↑»
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'It's okay,' Laz interrupted the system.
The sense the system had made from the information it displayed was only to let Laz know that he wasn't done yet. He still needed to eliminate Little Rodent. Somehow. Anyhow.
The worst thing that should have happened to him was losing his sight. Even though the Little Rodent was sluggish in movement, it was still very fast with its flair of attacks.
Laz continued to think.
Now that he thought about it, Sanguarbor Primevalis had created the Crimson Cannibals out of his blood, and it means literally that he had been an indirect force against Little Rodent.
'An indirect force against Little Rodent?'
Yes. He could awaken the tree once again to create more cannibals that were going to take down Little Rodent. That way, it also meant he was the mastermind. But, if they ended up defeating the Rodent monster, how was he going to survive?
One thing he knew for sure was that offering his blood to the tree meant offering sacrifices to awaken that "gift" it bore, even though his first attempt was out of contempt. But, every gift has a price — and Sanguarbor was soon to collect its price.
It would probably be his life since it had fun caging human lives and using them to produce cannibals of the sort.
'Either way, I might still lose my life. But, I better not make it quick by introducing more Cannibals. I'm sure the tree will use them as a rapid process for collecting its price. So, what should I do?'
That was when a huge figure landed before him with a great thud, trembling the ground a little, enough for Laz to see its shadows.
BOOM!
***
A mistake had unknowingly been made by Little Rodent the moment it threw the last Cannibal it killed to skid off the tree into the black grass.
Crimson Cannibals were made from blood, and so, bore the blood of whomever had caused their creation. So, the existent cannibals might as well be said to have a part of Laz in them. And, connecting blood with the tree, the cannibal had caused an aftermath.
A third Cannibal.
The creature dropped, shrieking as it landed. Instead of heading to the rodent monster, which still clutched on the floor like it was lifeless, its attention, however, shifted.
To the scent of immersed blood.
To Laz.
It leaped high into the twisted branches of the tree, toward the blind human who sat helpless on the floor.
Meanwhile, Little Rodent was not asleep yet. It might have lost a lot of strength, but could still do anything within its power to protect its master. It had seen the creature and was now gathering enough power to rise from the ground.
***
"A fight to the death," Laz muttered, having realized that a cannibal was still alive and had come for him.
The Crimson Cannibal towered over him. Reluctance overshadowed its intent as it watched the unmoving body, sitting by the roots of the tree. Its limbs clicked like wooden joints being snapped back into place, twisted and long.
Laz lay still, trying not to tremble, trying not to breathe. But he knew it could smell him — wounded, weak, human, and worse, alive.
Then, as if neglecting sympathy, the creature lunged, striking its thorn tail right before where Laz sat.
Instinctively, Laz rolled barely dodging a swipe of its claws that divided the bark where his head had been into two, causing the tree to break out but it didn't fall. As tall as it was, it was waged by other like trees in the forest.
Thanks to this particular trait of the trees, they saved Laz's life.
More thanks to his trenche life as a kid where he had learned some survival tips especially when it came to fights. Although he was not as strong when it came to direct duels, he could make use of what he learned to dodge some attacks.
And, the fact his struggles had taught him not to be pathetic gave him the audacity to grab a broken thorn from the impact earlier, and jab forward.
"A useless body is that which can't flinch. I'm yet to be useless!"
Laz screamed, striking the thorn diagonally downward to hit something.
The Cannibal shrieked and retaliated.
Its vine-like limb shot out to catch Laz's side and tossed him against the tree trunk to land with a fierce thud. The air in his lungs seemed to cut loose, as he collapsed to the ground on his knees, vomiting a mouthful of blood.
He had made a move while blind. Still alive huh?
Hovering over the hopeless young boy who knelt to the ground with his face dropped to the floor and blood drooling from the injured parts of his body, the cannibal advanced, gurgling. It unhinged its mouth like a cracked coffin lid, revealing jagged, pulsing bark fangs dripping with sap. Then, with its limbs, grabbed Laz by the arm and lifted him off the ground, tossing itself freely onto one of the branches of the tree.
"Hhh..." Laz gaggled revealing his bloodied teeth, "You are surely going to eradicate the source of your creation? Then, let's call it the end."
Laz muttered between breaths, hung in the air between the limbs of the Cannibal.
But— CRACK!
The wind had shifted, and something crashed into the Cannibal with meteoric force.
'Little Rodent?'
The tamed monster, bloodied but determined with wrath, slammed the Cannibal off the tree branch it had climbed onto, sending them both spiraling into a lower section of the forest. The impact echoed like a god had launched its fury on soil, causing craters, and gusts of crimson wind to envelope the surroundings for a few seconds.
KPUUUM!
Laz dropped hard the shortest seconds later, groaning. He crawled himself to safety behind the thick base of the tree trunk, breathing heavily.
***
Little Rodent stood between the crashed creature — the Cannibal that had nearly devoured Laz — and the shredded, sap-slick of another it had slain.
Red and black blood covered the monster's fur. One of its arms hung slightly, possibly fractured, and deep gashes lined its sides, leaking with every heavy breath it made.
The Cannibal hissed angrily.
'Terror!' Laz screamed in his thought, already pitying his savior, but shifted attention to himself immediately.
Crouched on all fours like a deranged beast, the cannibal dragged its claws across the tree's bark, carving out lines that glowed faintly crimson.
It had become stronger.
More like evolved from the tyrant rank. That's one privilege beasts tend to enjoy.
Just a taste of near-victory had fueled its capability and caused it to evolve.
The two creatures collided.
Little Rodent pounced with a roar, and the Cannibal met it mid-air, their bodies clashing like titans.
Fangs met claws, blood met bark.
The Cannibal wrapped its vines around Little Rodent's limbs, trying to strangle and rip simultaneously. The exact death technique Little Rodent barely survived from the other cannibal.
It was not going to work against it now.
The rodent spun, tore free and latched its teeth around Cannibal's neck, biting deep.
Black sap gushed forth from its open wound, but the Cannibal screeched and stabbed its thorn claws into the Rodent's stomach.
Little Rodent reeled back, roaring drenched in pain.
But the creatures were far from ending the fight.
Breathing heavy, with steps slow and hesitant moves somewhat of calculation, they surged again.
Filled with an unknown strength, the Cannibal lunged high, curling its body midair like a snake and tried to slam Little Rodent down.
Sensing the attack earlier, Little Rodent rolled to the side, its dagger-like claws slicing upward, shredding the Cannibal's abdomen. Bark-like flesh scattered like shrapnel, but the Cannibal lashed out with a last-minute whip of its thorned tail, striking the Rodent's face and drawing out blood.
Both staggered.
***
Having taken his attention off the fight between Little Rodent and the last-standing cannibal, Laz paid attention to his injury. He clutched his most bleeding side, panting.
Of truth, he paid less attention to the last round of the fight — he hoped the fight had ended with the sudden quietness — but he had felt the tremors of their attacks through the wood. Each of their impact shook the branch above where he settled.
Laz gritted his teeth. "I swear, if I survive this," he whispered, "I'm burning this whole damn forest."
A final, thunderous crash rocked the sky.
MGBOOM!!!
Surprisingly, and miraculously, Laz opened his eyes to find that Little Rodent had fallen with the last Cannibal beside it, their form remaining as it was when they ended both of their lives.
But first—
'My sight is restored!'
He rubbed his hand on his eyes to be sure it wasn't a dream, and when he pulled off, he noticed his hand where the Mark of Ellipse etched had begun to emit a glowing energy.