He could sense it was still wild. Untamed. Unrefined. That if he wanted to claim it, make it part of himself, he was going to have to break it, then bend it to his will.
It was a bizarre situation he still only half-believed was really happening. But Edge didn’t have time to process. To ponder, think, or understand. He’d be dead within seconds if he didn’t complete the procedure the core smoldering inside him, Skill-Eater, had begun.
In that moment, the skill almost burst free from his lips, slipping out halfway before he brought one hand up to his mouth and shoved it back inside. Before it could get away or slide down his throat and choke him, he cast his hesitation aside and started to chew.
Edge brought his teeth together on top of the skill, tearing off a piece before the rest got away.
It was vibrant and vital and oh-so-alive. It tasted like blood pumping strong in his veins. Of his organs working in perfect harmony. Of sundered tissue knitting itself back together. Getting knocked down and standing back up again.
Having gotten a bite, Edge could tell what the skill did by rolling its essence across his palate. The skill tasted like health because it was health, or more specifically, healing. It was a skill that could repair shredded flesh and restore damaged organs. Even create new blood if given enough time. Not to mention, the most delicious thing that had ever passed through his lips.
Now certain that salvation lay trapped between his jaws, he gave into his hunger and kept right on chewing, breaking the skill down one chomp at a time. It kept wriggling and regenerating, dying and being reborn every time he brought his teeth together. It seemed the skill was healing itself too, acting in accordance with its nature.
Eating Regeneration was by far the strangest experience of Edge’s life. Weird in a way that was beyond the power of words to convey. It also presented him with an unexpected problem. The possibility that he would be stuck chewing forever, or at least until he bled out and died.
But then he noticed the skill had begun growing weaker over the last few bites. It stopped fighting back, no longer able to resist his assault. A bit more chewing, and it went still at last, dissolving into a liquid he could sense was ready to be digested.
Under other circumstances, Edge might have entertained doubts. Thought twice about what he was about to do. But not now, when he was teetering on the brink of death. Thus, instead of hesitating, with the last of his strength, he braced himself and swallowed.
The pureed skill slid down his throat. A ball of electricity gliding down, and down, and down. Instead of heading into his stomach like everything else he’d eaten before, this time, the stuff kept right on going. It flowed past his belly, into a space that hadn’t existed within his body until a few minutes ago.
Edge felt his core quiver in anticipation as the skill entered its domain, vibrating behind his ribs. Skill-Eater engulfed the strange substance, like a starving dog tearing into a pile of fresh meat. It began digesting the skill it had stolen until its essence was ready to be absorbed.
When it was done, a notification appeared in front of his eyes.
You have extracted the skill: Regeneration
Digestion is complete.
When extracting a skill higher than Rank 1, a portion of its experience will be retained if you choose to keep it.
Would you like to slot in Regeneration now?
Warning: The skill will be lost if this option is declined.
“Yes. Fucking yes. Do it now!”
By now, the world had begun growing dim once again. But then a strange thing happened.
When he spoke those words, Edge was drawn into his own core. He found himself standing inside a dimly lit room, facing a massive furnace with a row of six alcoves set into one side. Somehow, he was certain that the furnace was his reactor. The place where magicytes were consumed to create refined mana.
The recesses were his skill sockets. Conduits that let his skills draw in the mana released by the reactor and change its nature, giving his magic physical form. In one of the alcoves sat a small stone statue of a man holding a sword, which he could sense was the manifestation of his skill Slash.
Across from the reactor was a large brass tank. The reservoir that held the magicytes Edge had absorbed from the environment until they were ready to be burned. Even now, he could feel them flowing in from outside, passing through tiny pores his core had seared into his skin.
His newly claimed skill flowed over to an empty socket, locking into place with a hearty click. It took the form of a beating heart, like the one he had stolen from the big man’s core. Although this version looked smaller, like it had lost some of its power when changing owners. Knowing that he was only seconds away from bleeding out, he willed Regeneration to activate.
Edge watched magicytes flow out from his reservoir and into his reactor—far more magic than he’d ever had inside him before. They entered Skill-Eater and became its fuel, releasing an incredible discharge of mana.
Power coursed within his core, flowing freely until it encountered that beating heart. When the mana entered it, the skill surged to life, altering the frequency of the magic before sending it coursing through his body. Out toward the ragged gashes in his stomach and the stumps where his fingers used to be.
Now that he had digested Regeneration, he found himself back in the temple. The entire experience had taken place in less than the blink of an eye.
Body thrumming with mana, Edge felt a curious sliding sensation. He looked down in shock as his guts began pulling themselves back inside his stomach, living tissue casting off the dirt and debris stuck to it before heading over to where it belonged. When everything was back where it was supposed to be, his torso began sealing itself up.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
He watched in awe as his organs and nerves, his muscles and veins, started sewing themselves back together. The severed fibers reached out to each other, grabbed hold, then pulled tight. His skin was last, and when it finished Regenerating, not even a scar remained where the shadowreaver’s claws had torn him asunder.
He glanced down at his hand when it began to itch. The wounds closed and scabbed over, like they’d happened weeks ago instead of mere minutes. Edge waited patiently, eager to learn if his fingers would grow back too.
Before he had the chance to find out, his reserves ran dry, as the last of his magicytes were burned to stop the bleeding. When the mana stopped flowing, Regeneration became dormant, and his reactor began to cool, returning to a passive state.
But it flared right back to life when he turned his gaze toward the tall convict. The man whose Elemental Blade had destroyed Edge’s hand. Now that his flesh was whole once more, Skill-Eater was ready to claim the power it had noticed earlier.
It was time to start the second course.
Before anything else could happen, the big man spasmed and then went still. Since his body could no longer Regenerate, blood began flowing from his torso like a bucket with no bottom. It let the sadistic bastard die at last, after the torture he’d endured.
When the last glimmer of life finished fading from the jailbird’s eyes, a message from the System appeared in front of Edge’s.
You have slain an enemy and gained experience.
For defeating a cored opponent Stage 2 or above, you have earned 1 Mortium.
“What? No. I didn’t kill him…” Edge stopped himself cold. When he thought it through, his actions had led to the death of the prisoner. Even if he was dying anyway and the end had been a mercy he didn’t deserve.
“By the gods… What are you?” The tall man, face pale from blood loss, tried to back away. But he was so weak that he could only stagger a few steps before falling over.
It was bizarre to see this lethal being cowering in front of him. A man who was more than human, a predator who’d looked down on him with disdain only seconds before, was staring up at Edge with horror in his eyes, like he was the monster. A total reversal of their original roles.
It made what had taken place over the last few minutes sink in in a way that it hadn’t until that moment. Holy shit. This is really happening.
“Stay away! I’d rather let the reaver…” Before the convict could finish his sentence, Edge felt a fresh surge of hunger, as his core demanded it be given leave to feed.
He wasn’t a cruel man, but he wasn’t inclined to fight it. This man had nearly killed Edge, and he would do so again if given a half a chance. Besides, as matters stood, the reaver would slaughter them both anyway.
He wasn’t about to let such a powerful skill go to waste. Not when he could claim it for his own.
Extraction. He gave into the urge and bid his chains to fly free, black links bursting out from the ends of his wrists. They went snaking across the floor before plunging into the tall man’s chest. The mysterious chains passed through his ribs, then dove into his core, seeking their next meal.
Once again, Edge’s consciousness was drawn along with them. What he encountered wasn’t anything like what had happened before. The interior of this man’s core was an icy expanse—the wind so chill it numbed his bones.
There were several skills buried in the snow, but only one Skill-Eater wanted. Rising from the surface of this arctic wasteland was a glowing blue blade, formed from the pure heart of a glacier. It was so sharp it could cut him in half with a touch. So cold it would freeze the blood in his veins well before he got that close.
Instead of running in terror as the chains drew near, this skill stood its ground, emitting a regal might like a monarch upon her throne. Edge could sense the Elemental Blade was confident it could slay anything that dared to challenge it, and it was easy to see why.
He was afraid the iceblade could fight off his ultimate, but those mysterious links proved impervious to chill and blade alike. They wrapped around the razored ice embedded within the core, drawing tight and then pulling hard.
There was an incredible feeling of resistance as the slot binding the skill fought to keep it from coming free. Its defiance enraged Skill-Eater.
Edge’s chains redoubled their efforts. They yanked so hard he was drawn back into his body, where he had to brace himself so he wasn’t dragged down to the ground.
After another mighty tug, the convict’s core cracked, shattering the region the skill was slotted into. With eager anticipation, the black chains dragged it out of the thin man’s body. Something long and sharp that was glowing arctic blue.
Before Edge could process the full implications of the evolving situation, the chains flung the iceblade straight into his mouth. It started slicing and freezing his gums like a subzero blender, leaving rime-coated ruin behind.
The painful attack sent him reeling, unable to remember what he was supposed to do next. At least the assault seemed to cost the skill something, widening the cracks his chains had inflicted.
A few shattered fragments came loose and went sliding down his throat, gouging away as they fell into his core. This time, instead of digesting them, Skill-Eater tossed the shards straight into its reactor, breaking the skill experience down to produce an intense surge of mana.
Eating Elemental Blade would have killed him if he didn’t have Regeneration and more magic to bring it to life. But it was just enough energy to repair the damage he was taking.
The fire burning behind his ribs shocked him back to his senses. In that moment, Edge knew what he had to do. Not looking forward to the experience at all, he brought his teeth down hard and started to chew.
Each bite drove razors into his gums. Froze his nerves to the core in an ocean of agony. But he could sense his prey was growing weak, so he pushed past the pain and kept right on going.
He could feel the skill breaking apart with every bite, along with the occasional tooth. The weird part was… Okay, the whole thing was pretty weird. The weirder part was that although it hurt like hell, eating the skill tasted so, so good.
It was impossibly cold and yet oh-so-satisfying. It had a pure flavor like the most intense mint—frigid, sharp, and clear.
By now, Regeneration was healing him faster than the iceblade was harming him, but his reactor was growing dim. If Edge wanted to finish his meal before he ran out of fuel, he had to hurry.
Ten hearty chomps later, the skill cracked down the middle and lost its cohesion, sliding down his throat without further resistance. When it was absorbed by his core, another message from the System appeared.
You have extracted the skill: Elemental Blade
Digestion is complete.
This skill is damaged, and its experience has been lost.
Would you like to slot in Elemental Blade now?
Warning: The skill will be lost if this option is declined.
Edge tried to say yes. But his throat was numb, and all that escaped past his lips was a frozen chunk of blood. Skill-Eater must have taken that for permission, because it flickered to life once more, claiming the skill for its collection.
Once again, he found himself standing inside his core. In that strange place where time crawled by. He watched as his new skill was guided to an open slot beside the one occupied by Regeneration, a blade of ice resting beside a beating heart and a small stone statue.
He snapped back into his body a few seconds later.
When Edge was aware of his surroundings once more, the tall prisoner was lying at his feet, flopping around like a fish out of water. It seemed the rough Extraction had caused damage on a fundamental level and was incredibly painful to boot.
Convulsing had reopened the wounds on the convict’s forearms, which had finally stopped bleeding. It turned out that not even losing both arms was enough to kill a cored individual. But blood loss and Edge’s ultimate had finished what the shadowreaver had started.
Staring out toward a distant horizon only he could see, the thin man let out a gasp and then went still.
You have slain an enemy and gained experience.
For defeating a cored opponent Stage 2 or above, you have earned 1 Mortium.
You have accumulated sufficient experience to cycle up your core. Your new cycle is: 1.
You have 2 attribute points awaiting allocation.
Would you like to spend them now?