P.O.V - Apostolos

  Here comes the side swipe.

  Already executing a sideways spin and flip, Apostolos dodged over a cleaving leg that swept through the air below where he’d just been.

  Acid spray.

  Landing, Apostolos crouched down as a wave of acid sprayed overhead.

  And then the web.

  Striking forward with his trusty spear, he swept his blade in a cleaving arc, cutting through the net of webs as it flew toward him.

  Cleared.

  Grinning, Apostolos stared down his old foe.

  The Spider Patriarch, second only to the Reaping Ash Coscinocera, was the current strongest monster on the second floor.

  It was also the last, his only roadblock from a full clear.

  Mortal Spider Patriarch

  Level: 58

  King of lowly arachnids, the Mortal Spider Patriarch brings death through acid sprays, legs that can cut through even the toughest uncommon-grade metals, and webs that are strong enough to hold down rampaging enemies.

  Twelve feet tall and twenty feet across, an imposing monster with eight eyes followed him without missing a beat. He had been throwing himself against the giant for ages, slowly honing himself. He could deftly recall how it had bisected him in the first few encounters in a single blow; he’d barely last a minute.

  Now, the battles were far closer.

  Dodging and weaving through the strikes from the oversized bug, Apostolos snapped his spear back into its portable size before drawing his hand back as if drawing an arrow. Channeling Essence Projection, a golden arrow flickered into existence before he released it a moment later. Striking true, Apostolos could only grimace as the attack did effectively nothing.

  Damn. Not that I wasn’t expecting it.

  Since he’d evolved Essence Spark into Essence Projection, he’d used it as his primary combat skill.

  Primarily because he didn’t have any other combat skills thanks to Scholar’s Retreat, but it was neither here nor there.

  While Essence Projection wasn’t technically a combat skill, the ability to outwardly manifest and extend your affinity made for a convenient form of attack when paired with basic pneuma control. It allowed for incredible attack diversity and flexibility when used in such a fashion.

  But.

  Lashing outward, a golden whip struck out and slashed at the spider, inflicting only a cosmetic burn.

  At his current level, the attack potency wasn’t there. Oh, he could do fun things with it. He could even move mid-flight any projectiles he released thanks to Minor Missile Manipulation, which he’d gained from his Hawk Eye ‘skill’ upon his A5 ascension. Yet, it didn’t change that against tough opponents; his magic didn’t hit hard enough.

  Hence, the current stalemate against the Spider Patriarch. He’d long ago learned its attack patterns, and with how weightless his body felt in combat, he could dodge and weave until the suns burnt out if he wanted to. It didn’t change that when push came to shove, he still hadn’t managed to inflict anything more than superficial wounds. Even when he’d managed to get in close and strike with his spear, it left only a small graze that would be healed by the time he next returned.

  Maybe I can pull off the slide this time.

  Used to its attack patterns, Apostolos let some of his thoughts drift as he tried to figure something out. One time, he had even attempted to slide beneath it and stab it from below.

  That had resulted in him dying as it somewhat embarrassingly crushed him.

  Fighting for several more minutes, Apostolos finally sighed, retreating with several backward hops as he stood just outside the entrance to the Spider Patriarch’s cave.

  “Next time,” Apostolos muttered, aware he’d been saying that for months.

  Making his way to the boss room, Apostolos walked across the chains that tethered the teleportation platform above the gaping hole in the ground. Glancing once over the side, Apostolos felt the momentary temptation to jump down and investigate.

  Bad idea, Apostolos. You know what master would advise.

  Sure, he could simply respawn if killed, thanks to his Radiant Ember. It didn’t change that making a new Radiant Ember took some time, and for what? He doubted he could kill anything down there if he couldn’t even kill the Spider Patriarch.

  Just head home.

  The instant he thought it, Apostolos appeared outside of the Maw. Having used the platform as often as he had now, he wasn’t even disoriented as he returned to their camp. At a walking pace, it would take roughly an hour and a half; if he ran, he could be there in only ten minutes.

  But it’s a nice day.

  Deciding to walk, Apostolos enjoyed the day. It was nearing the end of summer; soon, they’d be entering the dew season. While summer could be hot, the dew season was endlessly damp, everything always covered in a thin layer of dew, with a brisk chill forever holding. Considering the dew season lasted two-thirds of the year, Apostolos wanted to enjoy the remaining days of the summer season.

  Halfway back, Apostolos detoured, following a familiar path he’d worn into the ground from his many treks. Within minutes, he found himself in a small clearing, a ray of sunshine streaming down and illuminating the clearing as if it were a perfectly placed spotlight.

  Taking a stance within the center of the clearing, Apostolos slowly pivoted between forms, swapping from spear to magic back to entirely unarmed. Minutes passed into hours before Apostolos finally felt content, having gone through his forms as much as he thought was worthwhile. Sighing, he left the clearing, missing the direct sunlight within moments. Solar Regeneration meant that as long as he wasn’t taking any damage, he could sustain himself endlessly so long as he stood within the sunlight.

  The bliss of the suns fading, Apostolos frowned, thoughts drifting to his master.

  “Stubborn old man,” Apostolos grumbled. As much as he tried, he hadn’t convinced his master to begin mastering or even understanding the flow of combat. Instead, he preferred to brute force every fight with the overwhelming quality of his arms and gear.

  It made Apostolos uncomfortable, not just because he feared his master would ever die due to his lack of skill but also because of something far more straightforward.

  He didn’t want to surpass his master.

  It was stupid and childish. Apostolos knew that. Yet his master had raised and cared for him over the last ten years, making Apostolos feel that nothing bad could ever happen because he was there.

  Now, reality was staring him straight in the face. In a few short years, he would reach A6 and finally reach an even playing field with his master. At that point, Apostolos would surpass him; his attributes focused more on combat than his master’s and with practical skill that his master lacked.

  Not to mention, if he ever developed a practical combat skill, that would put him even further ahead of his master. The only thing his master had going for him was the unique ability to utilize blood weave to uplift his attributes far beyond what should have been possible, yet even that was likely nearing its end. Apostolos wasn’t stupid; he’d been trained as a craftsman for years under his master. Thus, he understood that the power of blood weave was in the raw essence of countless monsters. That essence didn’t scale with ascensions, and with each ascension being worth more than the last, blood weave, which had been like a full tier boost, would soon become little more than a minor bump.

  He was on track to surpass his master, but he didn’t like it one bit. Not that he was suddenly going to stop improving himself either, leading to his current frustration that his master didn’t seem to care at all.

  Sure, Apostolos wouldn’t deny the excitement of his master committing to making him the best weapon Aelia had ever seen. That would, of course, be a welcome gift.

  But as with all things, there was always a but.

  The three-step roadmap his master had presented made sense: offense, industry, and defense would undoubtedly do them a lot of good, a more committed focus to a singular goal rather than the sprawling, endless projects of the past that could go any hundred and one different directions, sometimes even nowhere at all.

  But.

  But his master had entirely ignored the tiny thread of his own personal strength, focusing his everything elsewhere.

  Grumbling, Apostolos kicked a small stone only to hear a screech and the tiniest of trickles of energy into himself.

  Apostolos opened his interface, curious, willing a log of his recent activities to appear.

  Enemy Slain:

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  (1x) Caerbannog (Level 3)

  Apostolos snorted, closing the interface. The difference between a tier-five person and a tier-zero monster was a stone kicked absentmindedly was enough to kill the latter.

  Traversing the rest of the way home without incident, Apostolos frowned as he neared their now-repaired camp.

  Something was off. He couldn’t say for sure whether it was good or bad, but something was charging the air like static. Panicking for a moment, Apostolos imagined that the Chosen Bane had reappeared. With only a quick, calming breath, he pushed the thought aside; his master had seemed confident it wouldn’t reappear for quite some time, at least a decade or two. It was an advantage his master had; his instincts were usually correct regarding Eon-related fields, mainly because he was the creator of Eon.

  Putting that thought aside, Apostolos mentally chided himself. Memories of Eon filled him with awe and then confusion at the fact that it was his master who was responsible for it even existing. I really should check out what’s going on in there.

  Hurriedly jogging to the gate of their camp, Apostolos heaved it open before dashing inside.

  “Master?”

  “Over here.” Apostolos heard his master shout, excited but unworried.

  So, something good.

  Curious, Apostolos found his master at his usual spot, standing in front of the thrumming Stellar Forge.

  “It’s done,” His master chirped, covered in grime and soot.

  “What’s done?”

  “Your weapon,” His master said, a manic glee in his eyes that only appeared after days of unending labor. “It was a bitch and a half to get everything perfect, but it’s done.”

  Eyes widening, Apostolos followed his master inside the open-air forge, eyes landing upon an exquisite weapon leaning against one of the few support pillars.

  It was a scythe, but even calling it just a scythe did it a disservice. The scythe head was made of the same material that the Chosen Bane’s body had been primarily made of. The head of the scythe was a little over three feet long from tip to haft, the color of midnight. It wasn’t just a singular scythe head either; the weapon was dual-headed, and the opposing head was a mix between the head of an axe and a halberd. It was a metal he’d never seen, a mix between a light grey and pale yellow, reminding Apostolos of the first few rays of sunlight that shone on a new day. Right at the very edge of the halberd blade was a thin edge of crimson metal, what looked like a further refined version of Crimson Steel.

  The haft of the entire weapon was made of the same yellowish-grey metal, almost as long as he was tall. Sprawling haft as the whole, with barely an inch uncovered, were countless runes painstakingly carved into the metal with a flowing script that he hardly recognized as coming from the usually scribbling symbols his master wrote. Finally, the entire weapon ended in a one-inch-long crystal spike that seemed to attract and bend light gleefully.

  “It’s... It’s amazing.” Apostolos whispered, his vocabulary failing him.

  “As I said, was a real bitch to make,” His master said cheerfully, hands on his hips. “Had to improve my entire god damn fucking knife even to begin to cut through whatever that shit left behind by the Chosen Bane was made of. At the very least, it provided direction for what I wanted to make the opposing blade and haft of. Its ‘basic’ version is called Stellarite; the version I used for your weapon is Solarite, given it has your solar aspect intertwined with it rather than the purely stellar affinity of the base version. I also used an improved Crimson Steel to line the edge of the halberd head. That passive hemotoxin effect is too damn nifty that I couldn’t leave it out. Improving it was fairly straightforward; I used stabilized steel instead of enriched iron when making it.”

  His master babbled on about everything that had gone into making the weapon. Yet, Apostolos found it challenging to pay him any attention, not with the weapon at the center of his attention.

  “… and that took me another three days of trial and error and too many damn crystal splinters in my face—one thousand convergence points in that gem. All for the sole purpose of focusing on and hurrying the usage of solar affinity pneuma. It won’t do much for any pneuma that uses anything other than solar affinity, so don’t get too clever with it.”

  Apostolos ran a finger across the haft, taking in just how intricate all the inscriptions were.

  “Ahh, yeah, the runes. That entire damn shaft is one big encyclopedia of everything I know regarding sunlight, further easing your ability to use solar affinity pneuma in an assortment of ways. I even tied some repair runes in there, linking it to the concept of your Solar Regeneration. The downside is that it won’t repair unless you physically hold it. Still, the upside is it’s faster than even bloodwood weapons repair themselves.”

  Finally unable to hold himself back, Apostolos examined the weapon.

  Custom-Fit Solar War-Scythe

  Grade: Rare

  A one-of-a-kind weapon made of materials ranging from highly potent solar metals to entirely unique and impossible-to-recreate monster parts. Made as a specialty weapon, it is nearly impossible to draw its full strength from those not walking a similar path as the intended user. It empowers Solar-Aspect pneuma and further reduces the strain of using such magic. From the head of the scythe, an almost indestructible force to anything beneath peak-Aberrant grade materials or low-Extreme grade. From the halberd, a material rated up to peak-rare or low-aberrant grade materials. Furthermore, wounds inflicted by the halberd head contain an anti-coagulation effect. A wielder may repair it automatically if they have the skill ‘Solar Regeneration’ and solar affinity.

  “You’re joking?” Apostolos whirled around to face his master. “Rare grade!?”

  “Damn straight,” Rory grinned, rubbing soot on his chin as he puffed his chest out with pride. “My first ever genuine rare grade item. As I said, a bitch to make, but the result is rather nifty If I say so myself.”

  “And… and it’s really for me?” Apostolos said, feeling like a rug was about to be pulled out from under him.

  “Yes… well, almost. I intend to add a leather wrap mid-center of the haft to finish it. Then it will be done, but that’s mostly a cosmetic step with a small benefit in giving it something easier to hold it from.”

  “And you’re certain it’s for me?” Apostolos asked one final time.

  “Yes, kid, it’s for you. I get it; you’d think the first-ever rare-grade weapon would go to the maker, but I set out to make it for you. Besides, if you read the description yourself, this pretty lady is only used to its full potential when someone with a solar affinity wields it. While I’ve got two affinities, neither of ‘em is solar. I still don’t even have Essence Projection, so I couldn’t even truly use it even if I did have a solar affinity.”

  Unable to help him, Apostolos rushed forward, pulling his master into a tight bear hug.

  “Oof. I get it, I get it.” Rory patted Apostolos on the back before extracting himself from the hug. “If you want to thank me, go use it.”

  “Oh,” Apostolos nodded, caressing the weapon once more. “I plan to.”

  Apostolos hadn’t expected to return to the Maw so shortly after leaving, yet here he was.

  Now, with a new weapon, he walked forward proudly as his master walked alongside him.

  “Now remember, it will make it much easier to channel and use pneuma as long as you tie your solar affinity into it. I’d advise starting slow; if you just start blasting, you’ll likely receive backlash from the pneuma surge.”

  Apostolos nodded, only half listening to his master.

  C’mon, c’mon, why does it have to be so far away?

  Even if Apostolos was in his early twenties, he felt fifteen again, excitedly waiting as his master prepared some burgers for his birthday.

  There! There it is!

  “I should probably find a way to make this trek a little faster,” His master grumbled, eyeing the red vines that linked a nearby tree back to their camp. “Maybe I can improve those…”

  “Master?” Apostolos interrupted, preventing his master from being lost to another wandering idea.

  “Right, right.” Rory nodded. “Second floor.” He spoke out loud as the pair reached the entrance to the Maw. In a burst of purple sparks, they appeared atop the platform hanging above the endless put of the second floor.

  Walking across the oversized chains that tethered the platform to the rest of the floor, Apostolos led the way through the many winding caves, half an hour passing until they found it, the last occupied cave.

  “Alright, well, good luck.” His master gave him a thump on the shoulder, pushing him forward. “And let’s see what you can do.”

  Apostolos nodded as he walked forward into the den of the Spider Patriarch. The weight of the scythe would take a bit of getting used to, heavier than he was used to with his spring spear, but it was a comfortable weight, nonetheless.

  Once inside, Apostolos eyed the oversized spider before nodding to himself.

  “Let’s start things off with a bang,”

  Sweeping the curved blade of the scythe forward, Apostolos barely needed to try as a crescent of golden light slashed forward, striking the monster before it fully regarded him.

  Surprised, the Spider Patriarch flinched, revealing a starkly visible cut engraved into its exoskeleton, green droplets slowly oozing from the wound.

  Glancing at the scythe as if he wasn’t sure what he’d seen was real, Apostolos broke into a wide grin.

  Just like that, in a single opening attack, he’d inflicted perhaps the most damage he’d ever done to the monster.

  Sensing a sudden increase in the danger that Apostolos presented, the Spider Patriarch acted instantly. Without building up to it, the monster began spewing acid and webs with abandon, its legs sweeping and cleaving wildly.

  As one leg swept toward him, Apostolos held out the weapon, catching the strike on the haft of the scythe. Grinning, he swept down with the halberd side, lopping off two feet of appendage as the leg spewed green ooze.

  “Oh, oh, this is nice,” Apostolos said cheerfully. Blood pumping with excitement, Apostolos decided to turn things up a notch. Charging at the monster head-on, he dodged, leaped, and wove between its attacks, the monster a familiar foe that he’d long ago come to understand. The only thing that had prevented him from killing it was the inability to inflict serious wounds.

  That had changed.

  Still grinning like a madman, Apostolos swept the curved blade forward twice, thrice, four times as waves of slicing light slammed into its body and inflicted further damage. The solar blades inflicted less damage than direct attacks with the scythe. Yet, they still inflicted more damage than any of his solar-themed attacks prior to obtaining the scythe.

  One by one, Apostolos struck out, slashing entire segments from the oversized spider’s legs, returning any attempted attacks with sweeping blades of golden light.

  Pushed to its limit, the spider grew desperate as months of innocuous battles against Apostolos had been turned on a dime, now fighting for its life as its well-understood opponent had grown a new set of fangs capable of tearing its life from its throat.

  Metaphorical throat, that is.

  Once Apostolos was less than a dozen feet from the monster, it suddenly lunged forward, snapping its fangs forward as each of its legs attempted to catch the golden light-spewing magic user.

  As if waiting for the moment, Apostolos slammed the butt of the scythe downward, vaulting himself overhead as he spun like a sideways-facing top, using the scythe like a circular saw.

  Had Apostolos been paying attention, he may have heard his master mutter ‘show off’ from the edge of the cave.

  But he wasn’t, as he was far too preoccupied with his new toy.

  Having given everything in a desperate forward lunge, the Spider Patriarch had no recourse, no defense, as Apostolos, mid-spin, brought the curved blade of the scythe downward into the head of the oversized spider.

  Like an ice pick through the ice, the curved midnight black spike struck straight through the top of the monster’s head, ending the life of the Spider Patriarch with one final decisive hit.

  Landing on top of the body of the now-deceased spider, Apostolos turned around to look at his master.

  “Not bad,” Rory said. “I’d give it… a six out of ten.”

  “Not even a seven?”

  “Ehh. You could have been flashier. No ribbons or fireworks.” His master answered back.

  Apostolos rolled his eyes, used to the banter, yanking the scythe out of the Spider Patriarch’s head as he did.

  “Word of advice,” His master followed up, entering the cave now that the Spider Patriarch was dead and wouldn’t be distracted by his presence. “Please don’t go doing that vault all the time. That gem is grown from pure pneuma, but it’s not unbreakable, and I’d rather not have to replace it every two days. Or, at the very least, don’t slam it down on stone.”

  “Oh, right, sorry,” Apostolos said sheepishly, looking at the crystal spike at the end of the scythe. It seemed fine, yet Apostolos knew better than to judge based on appearance alone. “Wait, won’t the repair function fix it up?”

  “No, the repairs only work toward the actual weapon itself; that gem there is a slotted gem meant to focus the entire thing into a cohesive unit, but it’s not itself a ‘part’ of the weapon.”

  Taking a moment to enjoy the afterglow of the victorious battle, Apostolos basked in it until his master spoke up again.

  “So, what did you think of it?”

  Rather than respond instantly, Apostolos took a moment to think, trying to find the best words to convey his feelings. Seconds passed like that until the young man nodded.

  “It’s a worthy weapon.”

  “Ego much?” Rory raised his eyebrows, smirking. “I didn’t realize you were so great that only a Rare grade weapon would be worthy of you.”

  “No, that’s not what I meant,” Apostolos said sheepishly. “What I mean is-”

  “Save it,” His master said with a snort. “I was messing with you, kid. I know what you mean.”

  “Oh, right.” Apostolos nodded perhaps too vigorously. “Um, now that the Spider Patriarch is dead, I was wondering…”

  “About the full clear rewards?” His master grinned as he looked up from an invisible interface to Apostolos. “Yeah, it’s right here.”