A gleam of light shines as I open my dozy eyes, my little hands trying to touch the tender smile from the face of a motherly figure. With her arms warmly wrapped around me, moving me back and forth and humming a rhythmic melody, I felt comfort and bliss.
"...Humm~ hmmm~ hmmm hmmmm~ Hum~ hmmm~ hmmm hmmmm~ my little boy, close your eyes~ mama's gonna keep you safe tonight~ Humm~ hmmm~ hmmm hmmm..."
Immersed by the soothing calmness flowing from the passionate voice, I let myself drift away to repose.
"...Humm~ hmmm~ hmmm hmmmm~ Hum~ hmmm~ hmmm hmmmm~ my little boy, close your eyes~ mama's gonna keep you safe tonight~ Humm~ hmmm~ hmmm hmmm..."
"Hmmm~ hmmm~ hmmmmm~"
"Hmmm~ hmmm~ hmmmmm~"
"Hmmm....aaaaaaaAAAAARHHHH!!!!!"
Jolting back to reality, I immediately confronted the abrupt roar echoed all throughout the halls from a frenzied beast I used to call mother. Still kneeling down from being indisposed, my head can't think clearly as tears fell down on my cheeks having abandoned rationality while staring at my own hopelessness.
"Mom.. mom... mom..." The words I only muttered as my heart wrenched tightly, seeing the tormented body my mother endured.
"Jiiiiiiiiiinnnnn, hahahahahAHAHAHA" she frenziedly shrieked, running tip-toed towards her only son. Her manic laughter echoed hauntingly in the chamber, sending more chills than a nightmare.
"Mom! Please, if you can hear me! I don't want to fight you, if you can understand me... Please moooom! I can't do this..." I shouted with all of my heart, groveling myself forward and yielding to her mercy.
As if hearing my plea, she stopped just 5 feet away from me. Overjoyed, I looked up just for my hopes to crumble down, she gazed upon me with eerie delight.
"Mom, can we--" my vision went black for a moment, a rapid kick from her left feet landed quickly to my head, sending me flying at a speed beyond human comprehension. Chopping my life down to 78 health, I'm relieved to the upgraded gauntlet that my head is still intact, taking most of the brunt when I spontaneously defended myself before the kick reached me.
Bam!!
Landing so hard on the fine marble wall that I spat blood all over, my bones broke stabbing my internal organs. Still stuck at the deep crater, and struggling to breathe, she effortlessly dashed and sprinted ready for the kill.
"Mom.." seeing her appearance, I can't help but remember the welcoming face that greets me when I come home weary from school. She always makes sure to provide good food when I know she secretly skips breakfast to save money. Taking care of me tirelessly day and night whenever I'm sick and bedridden. She even ended up owing a loan just so I don't go to school with my ragged bag empty and worn out shoes smiling widely.
All those things overlapped the image of an approaching abhorrent figure, running like a spider. She leaps above so high she seems hanging like a puppet, extending her three right feet as she descends, barreling down to bury me once and for all from my stupefied state of mind.
Bang!!!
With a loud crash, chunks of stones went flying as the crater became a cavern while massive rocks piled over, burying me underneath.
I somehow managed to dodge right before getting squashed, but still got carried along by the powerful wave from her attack dealing 20 hp damage, leaving me with almost half of my health.
"You still alive son? Don't be shy~ Let momma know if you're still breathing, hehehahahaha" She chuckled, her fiery eyes sharpened obsessively trying to catch the slightest reaction.
I kept myself well-hidden, breathing ever so slowly, not wanting to attract her attention while I searched for a way to defeat the aberrant. I can't leave, I can't go on like this. Even if it's impossible, not caring for my life, I'm going to kill this b*tch of existence for mocking the image of someone that's so precious to me.
"Kill... Gonna beat it to pulp!" I reaffirmed myself, eyes already bloodshot.
Seeing no response, the monster swept the rubble with another powerful kick, breaking all into pieces, dust veiled the monster's senses.
"Jinnn, where are youuu? You can't hide from me!!! Don't make your mother angry, come out now!!!" She announced while flaring dozens of interwaves aimlessly.
Innate Trait.
[Vorpal Hex] activate.
Thum!!!
In a normal situation, this trait will automatically activate whenever I enter the Void, cloaking myself during the voyage.
But, I can also manually activate it to cover my body, preventing leakage. In short, while the skill is active I'll be invisible to beings projecting interwaves to detect their surroundings.
Getting more and more impatient, the monster's thrashings became wild and violent. It's chest covered eyes wriggled rapidly even at a slightest movement in its vicinity.
Using this to my advantage, I timely picked up some stones between its tantrum episodes and readied myself for this suicide mission.
My skill [Void Rend] is available again. I can open another rift to jump to another world if I wanted to. Except, I am planning to use it with another trick.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Holding my breath, I threw the stones upward to the opposite side to divert its attention. With finesse, I bared my fangs wide, leaping forward once to get close and deliver a punch enough to daze the monster even just for a bit.
Like a canonball, my fist went straight but the aberrant spotted my attempt beforehand and launched itself to intercept my struggle.
Boom!!!
Punch and kick halfway met, a mighty explosion from the collision sent me flying up as the monster flinched from the drawback. Gaining momentum at the same time, I rolled my body, performing a backdive mid air while both fists are clasped firmly to deliver a devastating smash right above its head.
The aberrant hastily launched a counterattack, sending a raging kick upward yet barely grazing my lower body, dodging death by twisting my body sideways.
Bang!!!
With a clanking noise like metal, another shockwave blasted when my pummel connected. The monster's head is as hard as steel, my finger bones have already been broken.
Crouching like a fierce tiger on the ground, I prepared myself to follow-up my attack while the monster is busy sending a barrage of deadly stomps. I weaved in circles, zigzagging and dodging, jumping again at the right opportunity.
Splat!!
Unfortunately, I got hit by a rogue kick, breaking my right arm down to my chest ribs with rapid force that it blew me back as I spat blood tumbling away.
[You received -20 hp damage]
"Uck.." I can only grunt, helping myself to stand up while glaring at the abomination smiling wickedly, bolting its way forward.
Knees still wobbling, I faced the incoming attacks with nothing but pure hatred. Kicks landed mercilessly all throughout my body, my dangling right arm finally gave off while the other arm got chop down by a single sweep, ribs and femur broken making me puke blood, kneecaps exploded to pieces yet I still tried to stand up, and lastly a deafening kick delivered right into my face, crushing my nose and then skull as my other eye popped out and rolled over the ground. I couldn't even comprehend the pain as I slumped on the floor puddled with blood. My own blood.
Dying.
I am dying.
[Warning]
[Your health is already at 1 hp, body regeneration is impossible right now.]
"He..he..he..." The final words that my battered mouth can utter, smiling wryly at my self-stupidity. If I haven't engaged in this futile fight and just tried my best to escape, maybe I could have survived.
But I couldn't. I know I'm dumb, but I can't overlook and run away knowing my mom became a monster. It's my duty to end her suffering.
"Poor boy.. if only you have listened to your mother, I would have taken pity and let you live a little longer." She whispered, as she knelt down and continued mocking me.
"You think you can kill me? Come on dear~ you can't even scratch my skin, HAHAHAHAHA!" booming laughs echoed.
Opening its mouth, a web-like substance accumulated and shot right on my chest. Hoisting me up, the monster meticulously wrapped my shoulder and ankles hanging me upside down. She went off scavenging my fallen limbs and then came back with my left arm already in her mouth.
"Wow, gotta say I might let you live while I slowly feed off on your body parts." She said nonchalantly.
She then bit her wrist leaving a deep cut, and shove it into my mouth with her gush of blood flooding my throat. I gulped and wriggled, writhing in pain as my airways got crushed from the blunt force and healed at the same time.
Ting!
[You healed 30 hp]
[Trait Activated: Ungodly]
Sheeeerk!
Black murky goo burst out without any regard and rapidly formed into a pair of arms, crunching a third of my remaining health. I also got my other eye back, and my bones glued together once again.
"What do we have heeeere?" She asked amused with an inquiring tone and the monster touched my newly healed face.
Feeling no sense of responsibility to respond, I muted myself from the sudden conversation. Cracking my head again to escape from this situation.
"Ho-ho, so you're an emissary too, just like the other one." She snickered, while ripping my left leg with ease. I didn't even have time to flinch as another leg formed from my wound.
"Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!" I could only shout helplessly, both pain overlapping with one another.
"Hahahahaha, what a nice treat Jin, now I won't be hungry anymore!" Munching again as she chuckled viciously.
"I'm gonna enjoy our time together." A sinister smile from the monster, its blue eyes glowed brightly watching its food in misery.
The torture went on and on.
The monster didn't even give me a break. I can't even open a portal because I need to use my hand to rip the space. I'm stuck here against my will, hanging upside down, screaming from being healed and eaten alive over and over again.
Hours go by, days went flying, and I don't even know how many weeks have passed since then. Apparent scars can be seen from the repeated torment. Even my scalp have been ripped countless times that my black hair became snowy white. The untiring agony took toll to my mental health, eating my sense of rationality. Only madness prevails, numbing the never ending pain.
Chuck!!
Both of my arms slug off on the ground as blood drips down from my wounds. Eating my flesh, she devolved more into a devious abomination. Belly slouching, her skin is now riddled with pale scales and her slit eyes became six. Its displayed skull is now covered by tough reddish shells. Its mouth, full of sharp edged teeth, smiling widely closer to its ears.
[?Devolved Mater Mala Lvl 9]
Rook-rank Aberrant
Health: 400-------Mana: 150
Str: 8---------------Int: 12
Agi: 17--------------Vit: 18
Def: 35-------------Mor: -75
"You are the best, with your help I can become stronger and stronger infinitely, hahahahahaha" she said coarsely, plunging its teeth down on its meal.
"Though, it's getting boring now that you're not screaming and wailing, but I guess you're already dead inside, surrending your fate to me." She added as she slapped my face leaving a deep gnash that healed quickly together with my arms.
Faint black fog swirled around my body, sending malicious aura of death.
My eyes still closed after cycles of torment, opened wickedly and shimmered in tainted red with tears replaced by blood.
Alerted by the sudden killing intent, the monster glanced upon me and sent a thunderous kick aiming to discourage my dumb notion.
Bam!!
The tightly wrapped cocoon-like web was obliterated by the impact, leaving nothing but web threads hanging at the ceiling.
"You unruly child! This is what you get for not being obedient!" She shouted regrettably, now that her source of food is gone.
"I would have been sad if I saw you cry, mom" I calmly said, landing nimbly behind the monster's back, making it shudder in fear as the fog materialized into a transluscent black cloak.
Clenching my fists once again, cracking my fingers one by one, stretching my stiff legs and neck, my body feels so light right now that I can easily jump more than thrice my height. My muscles are visibly ripped, showing the untold torment they have foregone. With my innate trait [Transcended One] now further evolved, I also gained height and muscle mass. From being a scrawny kid around 5'3", now I'm around 5'9". With one swing of my hand, everything was blown apart. I smiled with delight, opening the system.
[Innate Trait]
[Fragmental Divinity]
Transcended One Evolution I
126 pts out of 5,000 pts
Description:
Your body has evolved and transformed beyond human comprehension. You have compounding increased senses, high stamina, superhuman resilience and additional attributes. The more trauma inflicted on your body, the stronger it will become.
Added Effects:
Health: +150-----Mana: +50
Str: +10-----------Int: +5
Agi: +10-----------Vit: +15
Def: 20------------Mor: 0
[Status Window]
Name: Jin Asura
Level: 1
Rank: 12th
Title: The Leviathan, Emissary of Doom
Constellation: Capricornus
Innate Traits: Devourer of the Sun, Truthseeker, Fragmental Divinity, Ungodly, Void Cloak
Taboo Trait: Bio-Forge, Acid Mantle
Occupation: None
Point Allocation: 0 Pts
Health: 400 ------ Mana: 150
STR: 14 (+10) ----- INT: 10 (+8)
AGI: 15 (+10) ----- VIT: 24 (+17)
DEF: 31 (+30)----- MOR: -48
Checking once again my status window, my eyes glared piercing through the unsuspecting victim, wicked smile etched unto my face.
How the tables have turned.
