Corruption

Emma walked along the shore. Night had already fallen and she decided it was best to tackle the shoreline rather than the forest.

The forest was, without exaggerating, pitch black and in combination with the palm trees and overgrown grass, the almost limitless amount of foliage, Emma didn't feel safe hunting in that environment.

The tip of her spear gently dug into the sand, parting it while she walked, creating a line in the sand behind her. Her concentration was absolute, her focus tight and resolute.

She scanned the shore in front of her, searching for the slightest twitch, the softest touch, any and all movement was the target of tonight's hunt. And then it happened, a bush shook in the distance.

Emma stopped walking. She very calmly raised her shoulder and pulled it back. She spread her legs apart and grounded herself in the sand. There was no room for error in her mind.

A large lizard poked its head out of the bush, hesitant, alert, cautious. Emma spared no time.

She poured her body weight into the throw and launched the spear into the air. The moment it left her grasp she fueled its velocity with essence and multiplied it by four.

The spear vanished. It ripped through the breeze and tore across the sky until it finally buried its blade into the skull of the lizard.

Emma recalled her spear and caught it out of the air. And then she waited.

It only took a few seconds for the phenomenon to occur. A palpable black smoke swirled above the bush before it plummeted down, sucked into the body of the lizard.

Moments later a scratchy growl entered Emma's ears. She raised her shoulder, cocked it back, and lined up the shot.

From above the bush, crimson eyes peered through the darkness. Dark, onyx scales replaced the lizard's original brown tint. Two perfectly white, fresh horns erupted from behind the lizard's ears.

Suddenly, Emma was staring into the eyes of a miniature drake. Locked in a daze, she didn't throw her spear.

The corrupted lizard bulldozed over the bush and dug its claws into the sand. It ripped and tore the beach apart as it charged towards Emma.

Now the size of a horse, Emma caught herself raising her head to meet the monster's gaze, but the subtle movement brought her back.

Unsure of the hardness of its scales, Emma used more essence than usual and pumped her spear with enough essence to multiply it by six. A loud bang reverberated through Emma's bones as she released the spear.

In less than a second, the spear left Emma's hand, traveled twenty feet across the beach, and impaled the corrupted lizard's chest. The spear tore through its body, leaving behind a clean gaping hole where its heart used to be.

The lizard's gallop came to a crashing halt. Its legs collapsed first. Then it's head struck the sand and the lizard flipped over, dead.

[Corrupted Lava Lizard Slain]

Emma recalled her spear and walked by the minuscule puddles of black sludge. She had a lot more nightfall left.

The next creature she stumbled across was a common crab, red shell, white claws, no larger than a baseball glove. Emma confidently strode up next to the crab and slammed her spear tip into the ground, piercing the crab in the process.

Like before, a sudden black miasma manifested in the air around it and was pulled into the crab's carcas. Emma stepped back, but remained close enough to carefully observe the transformation.

First, the crabs wound closed amidst a violent shaking. Then, its color darkened. From a brick red to a muddy scarlet.

Lastly, the crab grew. Its exoskeleton ripped through its shell, an explosion of splintered shell splattered on the sand. In just a few moments, the crab grew five times larger, coming close to reaching Emma's waist in height.

It swiveled around to face Emma, but before its crimson eyes could catch a glimpse of her, Emma took the shot.

Her spear barreled through the air and struck the corrupted crab. The blade easily shattered its shell and tore into its flesh.

Before it began the fight came to an abrupt end. Only the sound of the collapsing crab echoed through the night, its carapace repeatedly shattering under the weight of its new size.

[Corrupted Dungeness Crab Slain]

Two lizards, four crabs, and a rabbit later and daylight finally broke. Emma made her way back up the mountain.

She climbed over the stone wall and pulled open the cabin door. Stumbling forward, she dropped onto the couch in the living room.

Out of essence and exhausted, but Emma was more than content, she was elated. Those nine corrupted creatures saturated her soul thirty-six times over.

It didn't sound like much in the grand scheme of things, since she needs a saturation of five thousand to advance to the next stage, but it was an extraordinary harvest.

If she could only find a way to group the island's inhabitants together, to hunt them down in waves, then she could be knocking on Perfected's door in no time.