Soulless Soul

Chapter 77: The Price of a Kill

After some time, Sky managed to push himself back up to his feet. He coughed heavily, steadying his lurching form as fresh cold sweat and black goo rolled down his forehead. The adrenaline spike that had powered his Blood Blade through the final decisive strike was already seeping away, leaving his abused body to remember precisely what had transpired in recent moments.

Every movement sent a jolt of pain down his arms, and he was certain that the baseline armor values given by the system would do nothing to stop a well-placed strike from an apex predator. His ribs still ached from the earlier confrontation, as did his left leg, but he had little time to rest and recover. A cold sensation of iron gripped his flanks as he remembered the spider’s forelegs digging into his torso, leaving him with purple bruises that refused to let his lungs fully inflate.

Moving was slow as he dragged his left foot along the stretch of elastic mud, testing the integrity of the knee. It held, but an uncomfortable clicking reminded him just how much punishment the joint had taken. He frowned before shifting to the side, his boot making a soft noise as it pressed deeper into the thick mire. He was certain the unique ecology of the lower sectors would soon follow the scent of the shattered spider and bloodied rock, and it would not be wise to linger around in the immediate wake of his high-level kill.

The distant hill still waited. The jagged silhouette of the elevated terrain stood tall as the only viable landmark, cutting through the permanent gray fog that rolled down the narrow corridor between trenches. If he could make it to the upper ridges before his reserves had completely drained, he would be able to find suitable cover or have a clean shot to view the route he had come from.

He pulled the crimson scarf over his nose and mouth, blocking the putrid stench of crushed vegetation and burned exoskeleton. He surveyed his surrounding for the last time, eyes taking in the cracks of the large masonry walls and the waterlogged depressions where the Savage Beast had been pinned before Sky ended its miserable existence. Seeing nothing that could take advantage of his current predicament, he turned his back to the empty square and continued onward through the labyrinth.

It was only a few minutes later when the sensation first surged through his body. It was not mechanical or even biological but a very deep part of his being that resonated with something far older. A strange, pleasant warmth rolled from the very core of his soul, spreading outwards like liquid fire through the channels of his spiritual essence.

[Your Soul Deepens...]

Sky paused, coming to a halt mid-step with his foot hovering over a set of partially buried ribs. He noted that the oppressive mental pressure weighing down on his consciousness for the last few minutes had suddenly lifted, smoothing out whatever tension existed as his thoughts became unnaturally lucid, the sounds of the cavern floor becoming muffled.

He found himself noticing something strange right then. Perhaps it was a change that had not been there before.

His legs felt stronger. The tired, sore weight in his shoulders and calves had lightened, the fibers in his muscle knitting together with far greater efficiency that suggested some kind of base upgrades to his physical density.

His vision was perhaps sharper, allowing an enhanced degree of depth perception. The gray fog that had previously limited his line of sight beyond roughly ten meters had lost most of its density, revealing the minute details of the moss on the walls and the fine edges of the terrain features in the distance. A haze of darkness had yet to fully swallow the space, but it was no longer impenetrable, instead becoming a translucent blanket of charcoal values that Sky found he could see through with ease.

It was also odd, but his body seemed to have an almost improved texture to his skin. The small, shallow cut on his collarbone from the shrapnel stones of the collapsing column had ceased bleeding.

Nothing drastic had changed about his body. There was no rush of energy and strength he would have associated with an explosion of power from a tier advancement or transformation stage. Instead, he felt his self-existence to have increased in weight. As if his spiritual form had deepened just enough that it could now press upon reality around him and affect its properties.

Sky frowned, furrowing his brows as he rolled his shoulders.

"What was that?"

He had his suspicions, and they were not unfounded considering how soon the notification had come. After all, that was practically the only window of opportunity that had opened up in recent memory after delivering the killing blow to a Green-ranking monster.

There was one variable in recent memory that would have justified his increase in base stats, but it was one he was certain he had no real idea about how to trigger.

It was one he needed to discover. Sky needed to look past the superficial effects to what truly had transpired. He pulled up his array, the blue text flaring up before his eyes in the twilight of the corridor.

[SOUL GEMS: 120]

Sky blinked, his eyes narrowing as his mind cross-referenced his personal files with this new data.

Before dealing with the Savage Beast, he had been at 105. He had been keeping a close eye on that particular number throughout his journey through the lower sectors, noting that his Soul Gems appeared to have been stagnant throughout. The only thing stopping his stats from inflating exponentially was his lack of increase in Soul Gems, despite how many battles and pack fights he had participated in.

As the new user manual of the Dungeon Array stated with as much information as it cared to give, the acquisition process of the unique anomaly was unclear. It had always fallen to Sky to figure out what mechanics applied to his Blessing, the operational logic of a new system had been left to him to understand through trial and error.

It seemed he was about to uncover this particular mystery.

The mechanical loop of his progression was revealing itself in the dirt of the labyrinth.

The Savage Beast had given him fifteen. A good chunk that had immediately caused the deepening process of his soul core to begin.

But there was something else. There was a reason why it had been the beast giving him the increase, and not the usual hostiles he found in the territory of the higher tiers.

Sky realized something interesting. A piece of his puzzle had come together with the realization of how and why this had transpired. He suddenly gained rather deeper understanding of his role in the team.

In all of the fights he had been in since joining up with Crazy Hope and the blind blacksmith, he had never received Soul Gems.

Fighting alongside Vesper and Chloe, he had always bought time with his Soul Clones, pinning the Dungeon Creatures down as either the God-Sanctioned Archer’s divine projectiles or Chloe’s finely forged armaments pierced through their exoskeletons and vital cords.

It was not until he took on the Savage Beast by himself with nothing but his Blood Blade that he had seen such an increase.

At first, he was under the impression that perhaps only some enemies had the ability drop Soul Gems, or that it was simply a low chance bonus that hadn’t occurred until now.

He realized he was not mistaken, but he was not entirely right, either.

The reason was surprisingly literal. The Soul Gems were only granted from creatures whom he had personally killed.

The fact alone was cold. Sky’s anti-heroic nature was smug and superior at the discovery.

The system only rewarded him with Soul Gems when he took direct responsibility for the death of his enemies. It did not recognize him as a participant in a battle unless he was the one to deal that finishing blow. Whatever spiritual investment he had poured through the Soul Clone and its blade would simply dissipate, harvested by whomever had delivered the killing strike to an opponent.

He turned around facing the remains of the Savage Beast, peering down the narrow corridor where the black particles had dispersed into the gray fog only moments ago.

The rules were oddly convenient for his current disposition.

So what are these things, really? Sky thought to himself, smiling at the new understanding of his Blessing.

They were not anything special for a particular market segment, and they were certainly not a second status statistic. They were the actual literal bits of compressed spiritual existence, harvested from the broken bodies of his enemies.

Not that different, in some ways, they were from the typical Gems others Awakened had. The general goal between himself and the other Awakened were much the same; harvest the dungeon’s inhabitants to reinforce one’s self against the higher floors’ pressure. The process just varied by individual.

The other Awakened had to gather and process materials first to refine the energy contained within before swallowing it in a gradual fashion over hours.

A time consuming method that required proper tools and enough safe space to not risk the integrity of his newly incorporated Soul Gems.

Sky didn’t have to do any of that. He only had to be there at the moment when his personal enemy had breathed its last. No extra facilities were needed, the Array filtering out all the necessities and taking them into his spiritual core before his body could even finish expelling its remains.

Sky smiled coldly at his Array once more, eyes locking onto the luminous blue display.

[SOUL GEMS: 120]

The weight of the moment faded away, the pain in his ribs being the only reminder of what had caused him to stagger through the mire just minutes ago. Instead, an intoxicating awareness of the path ahead flooded his mind with a clarity he had never experienced before.

So...all I have to do is kill. Sky muttered to himself, his gaze surveying the endless, twisting corridors that lead off into the purple fog.

He could almost feel his Blood Blade’s hunger as the labyrinth no longer posed as a dangerous challenge of survival but instead something much different. Something of an abundant warehouse of raw materials for his next opponent. A convenient hunting ground ready for the Blood Blade’s eager teeth.

"Convenient."

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