Oh well. I’m sure there are more of them down here. Their bodies are so unusual that I doubt most of their skills would work for me anyway.
Only a few minutes later, Edge discovered that he hadn’t escaped unscathed after all. Shortly after inspecting the beasts’ remains and deciding there wasn’t anything worth harvesting, he started feeling sick.
Bile rose hot in his throat as black spots danced across his vision. His symptoms rapidly progressed, and before long, it looked like he was walking through a whirlwind of ash. When he glanced down at his hand, he noticed tendrils of mycelium growing beneath the surface of his skin. “Oh, shit.”
Whatever that last attack was, it infected me with something nasty. It must be biologically based rather than magic, or rank-four Regeneration would be able to break it down. He could feel the fungal pathogen spreading along his face and neck—all the places where his skin had been exposed to the dusting of spores.
Edge stomped down the urge to panic, although the situation was seriously freaking him out. He wasn’t sure if the invasive growth could kill him outright given his high Durability and ability to continually heal, but he had no desire to find out how bad it could get.
Instead of succumbing to his fear, he forced himself to breathe slow and steady while taking a close look at his surroundings. By this point in his adventures, he had learned that whenever a predatory species dominated a given ecosystem, there were invariably other creatures living in proximity that had developed countermeasures to the threat it posed.
He shut out the sensation of fungus spreading throughout his body and focused on his environment. He eventually spotted something promising—a tiny salamander hiding between the prolific stalks near where the mycanoid’s spores had fallen. The amphibian’s body was pale, and it had no eyes, although it clearly knew he was there. It was only a stage-zero animal, but Skill-Eater could sense a single power living inside its core.
He sauntered closer to its hiding spot, doing his best to pretend he hadn’t noticed the creature and would continue walking past. As he drew near, he got ready to make his move. Sorry, little guy. Nothing personal. With his superior attributes, by the time the animal realized what was happening, it was already too late. Edge lashed out with a boot to stun the salamander, then reached out with both arms and activated Extraction.
He needed to counter whatever was happening to him before it spread too deep, so he didn’t stop to tour the creature’s core. The black chains invaded the amphibian’s inner world, pulled the skill out, then flung it into his mouth. He chomped like mad, chewing to subdue the avatar as quickly as he could while absently noticing the flavor, although he wasn’t in any state to appreciate it this time around.
The skill tasted like mushrooms and conveyed a sense of being able to traverse these fungal depths without falling prey to their inhabitants. When Edge swallowed and the pureed skill entered his core, he let out a shuddering sigh of relief. Thank the gods.
You have extracted the skill: Purge Fungal Toxin (Common, Rank 1).
Digestion is complete.
Would you like to slot Purge Fungal Toxin now?
Yes, hurry. He jumped into his central chamber, where time passed at a fraction of the speed of the outside world. He was beginning to calm down since it seemed the crisis was over, letting him focus on what was happening inside his core.
Purge’s avatar took the form of a delicious-looking mushroom that would have made Edge hungry if it wasn’t for his recent encounter, which left him questioning if he would ever eat another mushroom again. Unlike the mycanoids, Purge couldn’t move and remained perched atop its skill socket after being drawn to the marble pillar during the slotting process.
This was the kind of skill he would normally have placed in his auxiliary slot, as it was too specialized to keep for the long haul. But since he had plenty of room right now, he had decided to put Purge in a regular skill slot instead so he could rank the power up. He might need to defend himself against a fungal toxin that was even more dangerous than the spores he’d been exposed to, and he was worried about the rest of his team.
After experiencing the vision that always came with binding a new skill, Edge learned that in addition to counteracting fungal parasites, Purge would neutralize a range of other toxins. It made sense, given the wide variety of fungi filling the grottos. The skill allowed the salamanders to dine on the biome’s prolific mushrooms at their leisure, except, of course, the carnivorous mycanoids that viewed them as a light snack.
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When he hopped back into his skin, Edge immediately activated his newest power. A warm surge of mana came flowing out from his core and suffused the infected regions of his body. He felt a burning sensation in his arm as the foreign tissue was consumed by Purge’s magic, then Regeneration healed the damage a few seconds later.
He still wasn’t sure if the spores were trying to kill him or turn him into a host for the mycanoid’s spawn while he was still alive, but he was deeply relieved that he hadn’t been forced to find out.
Now that the danger was in the rearview mirror, Edge offered a silent thank you to the unfortunate salamander that had helped him out of a jam. He was grateful enough that he would normally have let it go. But since the animal had been rendered defenseless in the middle of a deadly biome, he put it out of its misery, then stored it inside his vault to eat later.
Given the nature of his environment, he decided that taking Purge to rank two was his top priority. Fortunately, picking up another copy wasn’t going to be a problem.
After turning on Penetrate Foliage to take advantage of its thermal vision, Edge cast his gaze across the chamber. While he didn’t see any more mycanoids nearby, he eventually spotted a pack of the eyeless amphibians hiding behind a rock, including one that was quite a bit bigger than the rest.
This salamander was a stage-one beast, but he was middle stage-two and had attributes multiple times higher than its own. Thus, the amphibian couldn’t put up much of a fight when he approached with Warlord’s Mantle running. It tried hitting him with a few Tongue Lashes that were easy to dodge and wouldn’t have hurt him even if he took them head-on.
It was obvious from the way it reacted that the salamander had never encountered an opponent like him before. I think their entire world revolves around these mushrooms and a handful of other creatures—they aren’t adapted to fighting anything else.
He Shadow Stepped to avoid a final Lash while closing the distance. A quick kick to the head incapacitated the beast, then Edge used Extraction again.
This time, he followed the chains of oblivion along for the ride, peeking inside the creature’s core. He wasn’t surprised to discover that it was an idealized version of the cavern he was standing in. There was a range of edible shrooms in easy reach and not a single mycanoid in sight.
As he was hoping, this beast had an advanced version of the skill he was planning to steal. There were a few other Basic and Common powers too, but nothing that was worth claiming. When Edge was done looking around, he gave the chains their orders, left the salamander’s inner world, and waited for them to drag the avatar out.
You have extracted the skill: Purge Fungal Toxin (Common, Rank 3).
You already have this skill in your collection.
Its experience will be added to your existing skill.
When the new copy of Purge merged with the one he’d just slotted, the skill avatar began to glow.
The skill Purge Fungal Toxin has advanced to Rank 2.
Its mana efficiency has been enhanced.
Please choose between one of the following options:
- The skill will purge fungal pathogens residing within any creature you touch.
- Your touch will now damage fungal life forms.
- The skill can remove poisonous elements from mushrooms, rendering them edible.
Warning: If no option is selected, your skill will remain unchanged and gain a slight bonus to mana efficiency.
The first option was what Edge had been hoping to find, and since he was planning on replacing the skill once he made it out of this biome anyway, he took it without hesitation.
When Purge’s avatar stopped shining, the mushroom had a golden halo floating above its cap. While Chibime and his other skills went to say hello, he returned to his body. He was pleased to see that the salamander was still alive, since this situation would let him test something he needed to know.
He picked up the stunned beast, then visualized placing it inside his vault. Just like he’d thought, nothing happened. Edge had doubted that a living creature with a natural Disruption field could enter his dimensional storage, but he had needed to try it to know for sure.
He finished off the dazed amphibian with a quick touch of Elemental Blade. Since the subzero sword was so cold that it flash-froze its body in the blink of an eye, it was the most humane option, and he had no desire to prolong the creature’s suffering.
After storing the beast’s body inside his vault, he summoned his Guide to check out his updates. As he’d been hoping, the series of battles had taken him to the next cycle.
You have accumulated sufficient experience to cycle up your core. Your new cycle is: 19.
You have 5 attribute points awaiting allocation.
First, Edge spent one point on Endurance. Its base value was sitting at 19, and hitting 20 would give him an additional point, thanks to the 10% bonus provided by his Wanted trait. He felt the magic gather in his heart and lungs, improving their performance.
After a moment of contemplation, he decided to put the other four points into Perception. He was trapped in a deadly biome filled with mushrooms that his sensory skills couldn’t penetrate. He needed all the help he could get if he wanted to find his friends while searching for the grottos’ exit.
He signaled his intentions to the System and potentia zipped out of his core in a buzzing surge, settling around his sensory organs and the nerves leading to his brain. When the changes were complete, the ambient noise grew louder in his ears, and the musty odor of mushrooms became subtly more complex.
Edge took a few minutes to adjust to the enhancements, then continued searching for his crew while making his way toward the world of light far above his head.