Chapter 10: The Devourer
They didn't get far. The blood exploded upward, sending blood and bodies flying in all directions. Jael started to climb the stairs but his Codex suddenly appeared before him unsummoned, flickering with green fire.
The Codex jerked him back and Jael fell with a scream. He hit the ground hard, but he felt no pain due to his new body; he glared at the Codex. "What?"
"Jael!" Temur called; he was halfway through behind Litha, but he heard his scream and looked back. "Come on up!" The pot was sending out an aura that made it almost hard to breathe.
Jael ignored the Codex and started to run up the stairs again; immediately, his feet cleared two steps, and the Codex flared and slammed into him, ramming him back. He let out a curse as another explosion rocked the pot and shattered it.
Something dark flew out of the hole and started making its way towards him. He couldn't see it properly but it has too many tentacles for Jael's liking. He picked himself up hurriedly as the bodies piled high were thrown away.
He turned, reaching and using all his mental power to take hold of his Codex and yanking it into his mind. It resisted, but after a second tug, it dissolved into a great light and disappeared into his mind.
By this time, the Devourer was looming in front of Jael. It looked like an octopus, but its body was made of hard brown skin. Everywhere on the were teeth jutting out its body like spikes, a single red eye shone on the center of its head. It raised a single tentacle.
At that moment, Jael forgot he was Awakened and Iron rank.
All he did was stare as the large tentacle came down. But a red streak came out of nowhere and slammed into the monster, sending it back, another arrow still burning with a red aura lodged firmly into its head with a thwack!
Temur landed in front of Jael, shaking the ground with enough force to snap him out of his trance. "You said you want to be powerful, don't you? Then prove it. This is a proper Iron-rank monster. Let's see what you got." A red aura surrounded him like flames.
Up above, Litha cursed. "This is why I don't like working with idiots," she turned to the survivor. "You stay here."
Then she reached into herself and manipulated the mana in her whole body, making herself lighter, and then she jumped. Going down with all the speed of a feather.
Jael called his Codex, and it came almost eagerly. He opened the first page and read his skill.
[ Iron rank –> Dance of the Bones], [Iron rank –> Unholy Bond] [Iron rank-> Unholy magic]
[Use Unholy magic to fuel your Monster Taming Necromancer spells: mastering this skill is the step to perfecting all your spells]
[Dance of the Bones. As the faithful student of the Death Lord, you can use the spell, Dance of the Bones, to control monster bones, make them stronger, and shape them in whatever way you want. Even unlock special abilities trapped in the bones. To use the spell, cast in the name of Mors.....]
[Unholy Bond. Summon dead monsters and make them yours. But sadly, only unique monsters can be Bond to the faithful student of the Death Lord........]
Jael read it as well as got it into his brain as if it was planted there. He couldn't just bond any monster? He shoved that away as he started looking for monster bones around.
Meanwhile, Temur and the Devourer were fighting. "It seems the summoning isn't complete. You are weaker than you should be." He nocked another arrow and infused it with his aura, then he released it.
It slammed into the monster, almost the same place as the one before; the force of it sent the monster staggering, and the aura there should have made it weaker, but the monster seemed to be gaining in strength. "You are eating my aura?" Temur asked. He put his arrow into his ring and brought out one of his numerous swords.
Temur's Codex is different from others. It came in the form of a long-dead, great warrior to mentor him in the art of aura fighting. Every mana he took in is changed to the aura. He raised his sword just when something heavy landed on the monster.
Temur blinked. Litha was covered in blinding blue light as she bent the mana she was emitting out of her body to make a shield around herself and started to pound the monster to a pup with every punch she used. When Litha said they were above average Iron rank, she had been right.
"Ahhhhhhh! Get out of there Litha! Now! Now!" Jael shouted. He had found a piece of bone earlier, still attached to some rotting flesh under a dead man.
Jael didn't know how [Dance of the bones] works, but immediately he touched the bone, something welled up inside him. Unholy magic, it flickered at the tip of his fingers bright green like some lab fire.
He did the only thing he thought of. He poured all the Unholy magic inside him into the bone. He staggered as strength left him and flowed into the bone but that hadn't been his immediate concern. The bone had cracked and throbbed with power and danger as it swelled with green fire.
He knew instinctively that he had fucked up in some kind of way so he ran, shouting. "Ahhhhhhhh! Get out of there Litha! Now! Now!"
Litha looked up as she felt more than saw what Jael was holding in his hand. The mana in the air shuddered as he ran forward with the abomination in his hand. She left the monster she was punching and ran towards Temur, projecting a shield around them.
Jael threw the bone at the monster and ran, Unfortunately for him, there was no other place to hide, so he jumped into the pot pit, hoping there was nothing hot remaining inside.
The bone exploded, first with the green fire of Unholy magic and then with the last bit of essence still in the bone, an electric explosion of yellow spark boomed and shook the pit, throwing stones and debris up into the air.
Temur whistled behind the shield. "I motivated him that much?"