Chapter 8: High Rank Impurity

Isaac

Luckily—or unluckily, depending on how you look at it—we found the massive impurity Martin was so worried about. It didn't take us long to find, not when it was growing.

Yeah, you read that right.

The thick, gelatinous blob left behind a sea of destruction in its wake. It devoured everything: small bushes, saplings, grass, layers of dirt. Nothing was exempted from its appetite, and as it consumed, more and more of the forest was left in shambles.

We stumbled upon the creature in a small clearing surrounded by towering trees. It was an enormous sphere now, almost shaped like an egg, but for some reason it no longer moved. It sat, gently wobbling back and forth in the middle of the grove.

I inched closer alongside Martin, who stood attentively with every muscle in his body flexed. We paused, looking at one another, and walked forward.

A crack spread along the blob.

We hesitated, neither of us wanting to move in the event of something completely unexpected happening. But then the crack grew, a small web that rapidly became a sea of thick, wide seams.

The Impurity exploded out of the egg, launching plate-sized shrapnel everywhere. Before I could get hit, I raised my elbow to shield my face, and quickly turned around. Martin and I staggered back a few steps before sprinting for the safety of the tree line.

I dove headfirst behind the widest tree I saw, scrambling on my hands and feet to hide myself. My heart hammered against my ribs as if it wanted to leap out of my throat. I tried to take deep breaths, but the adrenaline was like a drug; it forced my heart to beat with the intensity of a hundred drummers.

Warily, I poked my head out to see what had come out of the egg, and froze, transfixed by what I saw.

It was tall, dreadful, and yet somehow eerily beautiful. A dragon, or what might've once been, with powerful, thick legs. It had no wings, but what it lacked in leathery flight instruments it made up for with brutish, curling horns. They were huge and heavy—so heavy, in fact, they weighed down its long, crocodilian snout.

The impurity had a long, powerful body, smooth like that of an amphibian and larger than a horse. It was tall, a truly gargantuan behemoth that dwarfed its surroundings with its elephantine bulk. A tail swished back and forth, nearly doubling the beast's length. The claws that raked against the ground were as long as kitchen knives, and razor-sharp teeth escaped its thick lips.

The System blinked to life.

[High Rank Impurity]

Level: 20

An incredibly powerful servant of the Shadow King. The fragmented memory of a prideful dragon.

I blinked. Twenty? It was level twenty? My muscles stiffened at the thought of it. Quickly, I asked the System to show my player stats.

Level: 17

I couldn't believe it. Was it an error of some kind? I was level 17, and this servant was three levels higher than me. Everything we had encountered up to this point was weaker than us. Especially the lesser impurities, whose strength was comparable to that of a twig.

The High Rank Impurity brought its nose to the ground and gave a dignified snort. My heart sank when it took a step towards us.

Quietly, I shimmied back behind the tree, trying my hardest to avoid making any noise. I looked at Martin, who was safe, if a little shaken, and clinging to the trunk of an enormous oak.

Our eyes met. Martin began to mouth things. Eventually, I was able to make out fragments of what he was saying.

Run, Martin mouthed. Can't kill it.

No. I mouthed back. Need to get stronger.

He clenched his teeth but said nothing.

I took a deep breath, and—

—around the corner of the tree poked the snout of the impurity.

My eyes widened in horror. I was paralyzed in fear. Martin gulped. He inched away, snapping a twig in the process. Immediately, the impurity's draconic face lurched his direction. It missed, instead taking a chunk out of the tree and spraying splinters of wood all over us as we clambered to our feet.

I sprinted further into the forest, Shadesplitter in my hands. I clenched it till my knuckles went white as paper. Martin followed, running the fastest I'd ever seen him.

A loud, ear-piercing bellow erupted behind us. I stumbled, catching myself on the side of a tree. Was the ground…shaking?

Before I could react, something long and heavy slammed into my back, launching me into the air and driving me into the trunk of a tree some thirty feet away. My head bounced off the hard wood; iron spilled into my mouth, and everything spun. Shadesplitter was out of my hands, thrown into the night.

When it left my clutches, the light sputtered and died out instantly.

Spots of color swam across my vision like shoals of fish in the sea. I gasped for air, pain splintering throughout my back and lungs. My mind scattered a thousand different directions.

Delirious, contorted in agony, and completely blind without the light from my axe, I couldn't see the High-Rank Impurity's long, thick tail arching back for another blow until it was just about to crush me.

With little-to-no time at all to respond, I lurched to the left, away from the inky bludgeon. The tail missed my head by a few meager inches, sparing me in the process. The tree, however, wasn't as lucky.

Bleary-eyed, I gawked at layers of wood and bark peeled off in a single hit. I gnashed my teeth, struggling against the pain that boiled my blood and made my head feel like it was about to burst.

The impurity inched closer.

Achievement Unlocked: A Dragon's Beating

Reward: [Dragon Brawler]

Golden light spilled out across the forest from the System's abrupt notification. My eyes, still overran with fuzzy static, locked onto the axe. There was just one problem.

The impurity blocked the way.

Martin, blessed with a small window of light, nocked an arrow. I heard the twang of his bowstring being drawn back followed by a sharp snap as he fired.

The arrow whistled through the air, penetrating the impurity's face and digging in deep just beneath an eye. A gut-wrenching, agonizing howl tore from its lips, and it staggered wildly, slamming against trees. It slashed at the arrow with its long, terrifying claws, ripping its own leathery hide in the process. The arrow split, torn in two under the weight of its paws; the other half, still buried inside its smooth body, began to dissolve.

The golden light faded to nothingness, bathing us in darkness once more, and all I could see were two cold rubies studying me with newfound wariness.

I stumbled away, trying to find cover before it attacked again. Shadesplitter was too far away to reach. That left us with two options: Fleeing, which I refused to do even if it killed me, or fighting. If we fought, Martin was our only remaining hope—unless I could get my axe. For now, I had to get its attention so Martin could attack safely.

Don't lose focus, Isaac.

With such limited vision, it was hard to tell where the impurity's body began and ended. It seemed as if it were one gigantic shadow we fought against. It very well might've been.

Your body has grown accustomed to darkness. Skill [Lesser Night Vision] has been acquired.

The dinging of the notification made me jump. What was more startling, however, was the sudden ability to make out my surroundings. Everything was a dull grey, but I could make out the depth of the ground, how it formed dips and small mounds. I even saw a small, fist-sized rock.

Rock. Attention.

A plan came to life. Without hesitating, I grabbed the rock and threw it at the impurity, sprinting out of cover and shouting.

Its tail lashed out, slamming into the ground behind me. I dove behind the next tree, farther away from the axe this time.

It followed with its slow, methodical gait.

I threw another rock. This one slammed against its eye, and it screeched in agony, throwing itself backward.

The eyes. We thought they couldn't see, but what if they can? What if their eyes are just…weak?

With my newfound night vision, traversing the forest became drastically easier. I kept throwing rocks and leading the infuriated behemoth further and further away. By the ninth rock, I decided it was safe enough for me to start looping back around to the axe.

The impurity followed at a slow, almost deliberate pace despite its growing frustration. More than once it lashed out, headbutting a tree and producing a brutal thudding that echoed across the forest.

My ribs ached. My legs begged me to stop, to sit down and rest, but I trudged onward. Shadesplitter was just around the corner. It couldn't be very much farther away now.

"Isaac?" Martin shouted. I turned around the tree and saw him in the clearing, standing above my axe with a worried expression. I winced; the impurity's head shot in the direction of his voice. "We have to run!"

His face was scrunched up in pain. I noticed the deep gash on his arm and gasped. His eyes locked onto me, and he began to stagger over, eyes wide. The shock, the panic of being thrust into this situation, made him delirious.

No. The impurity's roar was distant thunder. Martin, no!

Clumps of dirt flew as I sprinted toward him. The impurity did the same. I was closer, but it was faster—much, much faster. My body hummed, and for a moment I imagined what might happen to Martin if I couldn't reach him in time.

No.

I had to make it to him.

"Martin!" I screamed, tackling him as hard as I could. We both went flying just as the impurity barreled past, snapping out with its thick snout. I felt the beast's warm, rancid breath just before its momentum carried it past us.

I crashed against the ground with as little grace as humanly possible, thudding and bouncing off every rock and root in my path. Martin howled in pain, his open wound oozing dark grey blood.

My body moved on its own, grabbing Martin and dragging him to safety. It was a painfully slow process, and…

…I let his arm fall to the ground.

The impurity was staring at both of us, poised and ready for a charge. I wouldn't be able to drag Martin back to safety in time, not before it reached both of us. Again, I imagined what would happen in that scenario.

Bile filled my mouth. I wanted to vomit, to scream. Pride brought me into this fight. My pride was going to get Martin killed.

If I wanted to get stronger, I needed to be strong enough to protect both of us.

I couldn't let Martin die here, but there was no way out. The axe was still out of reach. Closer than cover, but still not close enough to be reached before we met our unfortunate demise.

There was only one thing I could think of.

I walked in front of Martin, who lay murmuring and babbling incoherently. He sobbed, crying out to his grandson. A pang of guilt churned throughout my heart.

No matter what happened, I had to stop the impurity.

The system is responding to your emotions.

I planted myself like a tree, arms wide and ready to grab the impurity. Likely it would charge, bash me against the tree, and then try to bite. A common tactic among predators: stun, injure, kill. A fool-proof plan, to be sure.

The impurity charged. I stood still, waiting.

The system is responding to your emotions.

Closer. It came closer, and I stood still, unflinching despite all the fear and dread bubbling in my gut.

I could run. It wasn't too late. Abandon Martin and flee to recollect myself. I could've ran for the axe. And what? Left Martin to die?

I was ashamed of myself.

Martin was kind to me. We talked, enjoyed our time together, reminisced about Earth. We helped one another, and yet I thought about abandoning him the moment things looked dreary.

You have unlocked a unique skill.

[Earthshaker]

Just before the impurity rammed its head against me, I shot my hands out and grabbed them with all my might. It was the only thing I could do—an insanely foolish and dangerous idea that should've resulted in my death.

But it didn't.

Instead, the impurity pushed, trying to knock me backwards, and was met with an insurmountable resistance. I stood firm, unmoving despite its clear weight advantage. I should've been dead.

The monster was just as shocked to learn about my newfound strength as I was. Unfortunately for it, I was much quicker on the uptake. I pulled my hand back and punched—a good, well-practiced right hook that sent the impurity soaring.

There was no time to examine the system's status, nor any time to stand around in awe of my new power. I sprinted for Shadesplitter, then turned and charged after the impurity, which had crashed into a tree and knocked it down in the process. Strength suffused my body, meaning it must've activated the skill [Logger's Fury].

I looked at my hands and was astonished to see chunks of stone clinging to my knuckles, forming protective, sharp ridges. There was no time to stand around and gawk, though. The impurity had to be defeated before I could mull over my new abilities.

The shadowy dragon recovered better than I would've. It shook off bits and pieces of wood, glowering in my direction with its beady little eyes. I hoisted my axe, ready to use it.

Apparently, the monster hadn't quite learned its lesson from last time. It panted and growled, shaking its body and lowering its head to display its wide, majestic horns.

Again, it attempted to charge me. This time, though, I was ready.

I brought the axe down the middle of its head. The second the gold metal touched the shadowy impurity, it exploded into a storm of black motes.

Achievement Unlocked: [Insurmountable Wall]

Title Unlocked: [Shadowbreaker]

I sank to my knees, coughing and sputtering. Blood oozed out of my mouth. I struggled to breathe; all my strength had vanished simultaneously.

The System dinged.

[Earthshaker]: For 50 seconds following protecting an ally, become tremendously strong. You will also be unstoppable. However, damage taken will accumulate over this period. At the end of the 50 seconds, the second half of the skill, [Divine Drawback] shall activate, inflicting all accumulated damage at once.

If I could've laughed, I would've.

Instead, all that came out was a dreadful gurgle as soul-shattering pain filled my body. It felt like all my bones were broken beyond repair, but I knew they weren't. If they were, I don't imagine I would've been able to stay conscious.

Still, the pain was enough to make me double over and hold myself. I coughed again, spewing blood across the grass.

Instead of sitting around and waiting for the pain to lessen, my mind wandered back to Martin.

I forced myself to stand. It was a slower, more daring process than I preferred, having to first prop myself up with my hands and shimmy up to my knees, but eventually I managed.

Martin wasn't where I left him, so I called his name.

Nothing.

Only silence and darkness.

"Martin!" I shouted.

Again, no response. I checked behind the nearest trees, looking everywhere I could. Where would he have gone, injured as he was?

The realization settled upon me slowly.

If those shadowy things had taken wood and logs, what was preventing them from taking a person?

Beware the shadows.

I squeezed my fists. No. It wasn't possible. I just had to look a little more, examine things a little closer. He was somewhere. He had to be.

I searched for what must've been hours and never found him.

Frustrated, I threw myself against a tree and screamed. Shadesplitter lit up my surroundings. There was absolutely no way he would've been ignoring me. Worse, he was injured and couldn't have gone very far.

I checked everywhere. There was nothing. No clues, no hints—nothing.

Ding!

My eyes snapped to the System window, expecting to see a notification about my level or earning a new skill. Instead, above all the older notifications as a quest update that sent chills down my spine.

Trial Update: Deep below the earth, the Shadow King has claimed a sacrifice. Prevent his resurrection by defeating his remnant and saving the sacrifice.

I blinked. It didn't quite register in my brain until I re-read it.

Everything only got harder and harder.