[Bonus chapter] Chapter 30: The Black Storm

A flash of black light smashed into the rocky cavern walls, the sound of bones crunching and flesh being torn resounding through the room as Ragovad, the giant skeleton's massive greatsword, hung in mid-air after striking its target, thick red blood oozing down the tip, along with a slight chip in the blade.

Ragovad raised the sword high in the air and brought it crashing down onto Raven's head, who had already begun to leap out of the way.

Raven threw himself to the ground and rolled away from the giant skeleton's attacks, grunting as he rushed to his feet, blood oozing from the gash along his chest, the black suit and leather armour now in tatters as his chest continued breathing heavily.

"Fuck you!" With his powerful muscles bulging and filled with sweat and blood, Raven howled, a whirl of aura pouring from his pores before it thoroughly covered him in black energy enveloping his axe that sliced through the air towards the skeleton's femur.

Raven's eyes flashed purple as the black shadows covered his neon eyes; his body became more powerful, and the axe head glowed with dark purple energy.

The strike hit the skeleton in the leg, cutting through bone with a thunderous clang, almost severing the limb, causing Ragovad to recoil and leap backwards, the wail from the skeleton's mouth so loud, a shrill scream like the wail of the damned causing Raven to cover his ears, gritting his teeth with a grimaced look.

"Not yet," Raven muttered, shaking his head to clear the ringing in his ears. "I'm not done yet."

Ragovad lifted his severed leg and flung it at Raven, the massive bone smashing into his chest as he lifted the axe desperately to block the attack.

The force of the impact threw Raven back, but he quickly rose to his feet and began sprinting towards the skeleton, his veins bulging as he began to berserk, trying to ignore the pain he felt.

Ragovad reached for his weapon, but Raven leapt into the air and slammed his axe into the skeleton's chest, the blade biting deep into its ribcage and driving it as deep as possible.

The attack pattern of this monster was strange, adapting to Raven's combat style each time he fought; there would be a deadly counter as the ribs snapped, forming sharp blade-like daggers that extended and pierced through the left arm of Raven which he pushed forward to protect himself.

The pain of the bones pushing through his flesh, as blood and meat began to ooze and burst from the acute wounds, yet he didn't relent; this monster didn't bleed nor show signs of pain as his neon eyes looked down deep into the blazing blue skull and its dark eyes, Raven spat into the flames, using his entire force to hold the skeleton in place, the fragile rib bones that impaled his arm trying to pull out, but stopped as his arm bent and pulled them tightly.

"You ain't getting away! I am the son of the Raven Tempest," Raven's words were profound, slightly distorted as his face looked strange, slight black fluid-like ink flowing around his flesh as he began almost to transform, his pupils became slits, a long black tail tore from his back as it wrapped around the arm of the skeleton holding its sword trying to counter-attack him.

A swirling storm of black mana and aura poured from his heart and abdomen like a raging torrent of winds, no instead a storm of aura collected around his axe, the jet-black mist with an amethyst core crackling and burning with a violent and powerful sensation, its power causing waves of dark corrosive energy, like a thick and deadly poison to ooze down the axe, slightly dulling and damaging the poor quality metal, dripping onto the bones of the skeleton, corroding and melting small holes into Ragovad's body, as his life reached 48%.

"I cannot become like my mother..." Raven's eyes glowed a violent purple with blue swirls as his hair began to float from the sheer magnitude of power he was emitting, small scales forming on his thighs like a serpent or dragon down to his feet, while his hands began dark, with claw replacing his nails, the purple aura bursting from his body like a tap left on full power, almost emptying his entire tank.

Ragovad struggled, his strength higher than Raven's in theory. Still, the weight and being under Raven somehow caused the monstrous skeleton to struggle, the aura from his blade pushing down with an immense weight as the corrosive acid coming from the axe and Raven's blood and spit started to weaken its grasp on the sword.

"So I will become something different. A monster, wild and uncontrolled."

Gripping his sword, the muscles on his arms now bulging a full size larger than usual, like an oversized weightlifter, his axe held high with a storm, a hurricane of black energy now crackling swirling around rapidly, the sound causing a booming howl.

Raven's eyes flashed blue.

"Ragovad, the Slayer of Wretched Poachers" His voice was serene like the pair entered the eye of the storm, a vast vortex now around them as the very ground was starting to be torn apart from the total energy inside the body of Raven, his breathing was ragged, but his body stood tall!

The moment Raven spoke the skeleton's name as if it could understand, the dark eyesockets began to burn with bright golden embers, its blue flaming skull looking upwards to Raven, a feeling of anger, disgrace, and unbreaking will oozing from its aura, still struggling as the blades of the ribs pushed further, almost penetrating Raven's chest.

"I am Raven, The Chimera of Black Storm!"

Boom!

A deafening sound like thunder rocked the room, causing Raven to stagger, his chest feeling like it was being crushed as his skin ripped, the ribs tearing through his torso as they dug deep into his lungs, ripping the muscles apart and pulling his organs free.

But he withstood!

His axe slammed down onto the blue flaming forehead of Ragovad, the crunch and blast of aura were so intense that Raven was blown back by the force of the attack, landing with a thud as the bones embedded in his body cracked and broke, but he had succeeded!

Ragovad's forehead was crushed, split open like a cracked egg; the blue flames began to dwindle, the greatsword clattering to the ground with a clang. Raven rose to his feet, his skin shredded, blood pouring from his chest as his muscles rippled and expanded with each heartbeat.

Seeing that Ragovad was not dead, he grasped the damaged and warped axe, unwilling to let his burning muscles, fractured bones and torn skin stop his advance.

"DAMNED FILTHY ORC!" For the first time, a voice echoed from the lips of Ragovad, his health now flashing red, less than 4% remaining as its face became a normal skull, cracks forming all down the front, teeth missing from the raging black wind

"Come at me, you monster!" Raven roared with a mighty bellow; his axe raised high as he pointed it towards the skeleton ignoring his trembling arm, half the skin now peeled back, showing bloody, torn flesh.

The pair began to clash with a thunderous crash of metal, sparks flying off the weapon as it clashed against the skeleton.

The skeleton swung his sword with a powerful slash; Raven blocked it with his axe, the bones of his arms cracking as he fought for control of his body; Ragovad would splinter his bones on purpose, slicing the face and flesh of Raven while Raven would smash the bones of Ragovad with his idle left hand, the black mist weaker, but still swirling around his broken body.

[Warning Vitality Critical! Death imminent!]

'Shut up!'

"Haah!

Raven's foot smashed into the flank of Ragovad. At the same time, he took the strong arm of Ragovad through his chest, blood spurting as he faltered, before being slashed once again by the giant sword, sending his body hurling through the air, rolling on the gravel, grasping tightly at his mother's broken axe, now chipped, large cracks through the blade and shaft.

'Fuck.... I can't see well... my chest hurts.....'

[Warning Entering Critical State! Death imminent, please flee!]

"Hahaha! An Orc Warrior Never Flees!"

"Grrrrr!"

Ragovad swung his sword in a wide arc, Raven leapt forward and avoided the swing, but as he did, the blade struck him in the side, breaking ribs which tore his right arm clean off, blood spraying everywhere as Raven was sent forward, his body now shooting towards the skeleton, his mother's axe flying across the large cave with a bang, the blade falling from the shaft, leaving Raven's arm in pieces.

Ragovad's smile grew wider, blood pouring from the sword as he saw a raven approaching him, like a lamb to slaughter.

Suddenly...

Like his entire body, Ragovad's smile froze as Raven approached rapidly, only moving slowly, his arms moving slowly from the damage to his core earlier, now the effect of this strange feeling, the wild black aura coming from Raven, causing Ragovad's movement to all but stop.

Raven's face, which should have shown despair, was smiling... He was laughing!?

"Dread Aura! Come, aid me with one last strike! Take everything I have, Ragovad!"

The black and purple aura, as if obeying its master, the legs of Raven now filled with a layer of purple scales, his feet like talons or hooves.

His feet constantly reformed and changed as the aura of his body, the last flashes of his lifeforce, began to swirl around his left fist, the bones protruding as he lunged forward, using the slash of Ragovad, losing his right arm, all for this moment as he threw a powerful left hook straight into the dome of the overconfident skeleton.

Ragovad's eyes burned as the aura around him exploded.

"Hahahahahaha!" Raven screamed with manic, deformed laughter as horns seemed to push through his forehead and temples, strange fleshy wings pushed and writhed around his back, almost tearing through his flesh, as his fist slammed into the skeleton, causing the entire room to shake.

A second explosion of black storm erupted from the blow, as the blue flames shot into the sky in a massive pillar of beautiful blue flames as if to serve only to make Raven's victory much sweeter, his almond skin illuminated as the black winds and cracking purple lightning began to envelop and destroy the inside of Ragovad's skull before it exploded with a roaring bang.

"Your head is mine, Ragovad!" Raven's voice was louder than thunder as he roared with triumph, the black wind howling in his ears as the purple lightning crackled around his arm, the bones of his hand becoming as hard as steel as they pushed outwards from his flesh like monstrous claws, or a birds talon and sliced once more.

Raven's powerful attack destroyed the small blue core where the flames came from within his skull; the blue fire sucked into Raven's body, as it caused his left hand to bubble and melt before the purple lightning aura absorbed it completely.

'I'm spent...' Raven thought as the bones crumbled into a grey mist, the adrenaline from his battle fading while he fell to the ground; even the pain felt distant as if it were a dream.

He could feel the ecstasy; for the first time in his life, Raven felt close to his mother; there was something deep inside him, a sense of pride that never showed through his daytime job; life with Philis was happiness, but at the cost of sealing this primitive desire that all orcs had, to do battle, to become stronger and feel this moment of joy on the precipice of death!

There was no pain; he could no longer see, feel or hear, only the blinking light of the system that seemed to be malfunctioning as it flashed and showed static before Raven slammed against the ground.

A brilliant light appeared and slowly began to heal his destroyed body as he rolled powerlessly in the dirt, landing beside the axe of his mother, now buried deep in the ground, with only the shaft sticking out and Ragovad's sword and girdle beside him.

"Mother, I think I can move forward on this path from now on..." Raven whispered as he fell into a light sleep, feeling the ticklish sensation of his blood and flesh being reconstructed, the acid-like blood melting the ground around him as he sank into a crater, feeling warm and comfortable as if his acid was a mother's embrace.

The flashing screen of his wristband now flashed several details as the copious amount of experience entered his battered body.

[Killed Ragovad - Slayer of Wretched Poachers]

[Gained 250 EXP]

[Gained 500 Credits]

[You have Gained Enough Experience To Level!]

[Congratulations! - You Have Reached Level 10!]

[Title Gained - Self-Proclaimed "Chimera of Black Storm"]

Chimera of Black Storm - Increases Vitality and Strength when near death by 30%. Lasts until death or recovery.