A Universe of Bloody Evolution

The Queen howled in pain or maybe anger. Leo didn't know, nor did the primal state of his mind even care. As they fell towards the ground, only the spots shown by Vital Strike registered in his vision. He hacked and slashed through them all, blood bursting out everywhere, painting the world in red.

Crimson, that was all Leo could see as the Queen crashed onto the hard Vetilim floor, with him still glued to its back. The beast cried out even louder, almost piercing through Focused Bloodlust. Yet, before the skill could disperse, he pounced on the ant's gaster again, stabbing deep into the armored flesh.

The Queen twitched, flinging its arms around in hopes of reaching the enemy that insisted on rearranging its insides. Only the Voidling was too slow, too weak to catch Leo, who weaved between the random attacks. The beast even tried to roll on the ground to get rid of him, but that brought on as much success as its previous actions.

"Die."

Leo growled, both of his blades descending upon the connection between the gaster and the rest of the Queen's torso. Fuelled by almost every possible self-enhancement ability, he cut straight through the chitin and the flesh underneath it, earning another shriek from the beast.

The movement from the Queen almost stilled. Only its legs kept twitching as the gaster fell off in a spray of blood and acid. This didn't stop Leo, though. With a single jump, he appeared just behind the Queen's head and let his blades claim the final trophy.

The moment his weapons disappeared entirely inside the beast's flesh, the twitching finally stopped, the limbs collapsing.

A roar reverberated through Leo's mind, and he answered in kind on the outside. The low, almost demonic sound filled the chamber or maybe even the entire Nest Colony.

Like flipping a switch, Focused Bloodlust drained away when the echo died out. The constant rage and hunger retreated, returning to its slumber. With it, Leo's mind flipped to its normal state, and he flinched as every single cut and broken bone decided to call out for help all at once.

Shit! Leo gasped, collapsing to his knees still atop the Queen's body. He still could move and maybe even win a fight against a single Voidling if he had to. But this wouldn't be enough for what he had to do in the next few minutes. Especially not if the notifications trying to drown him were anything to go by.

One of the three Queens of this Nest Colony has been slain. Congratulations, survivor. Take your spoils and decide if you want to continue on this path or retreat and continue this fight another day. You have approximately twenty minutes until this Nest closes for the quarantine.

Warning! Destabilization of the Nest Colony is waking all its occupants. Don't remain in one place for too long, or you will become the hunted. Good luck.

There was more to read, more to consume his time, but Leo didn't let it; those messages could wait. He had about twenty minutes to get out and take care of the corpse below him.

Alright, let's get to work. Leo thought, grimacing at the same time as his leg spasmed, blood spilling along the limb. Nonetheless, he pushed past the pain and dismounted the beast, only to pause in front of its fallen head.

First things first.

On wobbly feet, Leo took a step closer while his claws surged forward, going straight for two of the Queen's still-open eyes. With a single tug, he tore those squishy orbs out, not even blinking at the blood drenching his hands. He doubted there was a part of his body that wasn't covered in the crimson liquid.

Now time to heal. Dropping the eyeballs into a single hand, Leo stabbed the corpse again with the other. Devour activated right away, consuming the waves of Essence still drifting through the Queen's body.

Slower than ever before, some cuts closed while bones snapped into their proper place. However, even as only a massive heap of dust remained after the Queen, Leo's body still ached and bled. It was better than a moment ago, but still far from perfect.

Whatever, he grimaced. I can move well enough, and it at least gave me a boost in return for the trouble. Also, it said something about the spoils...

Devour consumed: +1 Grace

With barely a glance at the message, Leo reached into the pile, searching for anything useful. It wasn't until he got halfway through the dust that his claws finally clicked against something hard.

Let's see. Leo grabbed what felt like an orb and pulled it out, a faint, sickly green shine entering his vision. He was spot on the shape of the item. And quite frankly, if it was smaller and didn't look like a perfectly polished glass globe, this thing wouldn’t be much different from Crystalized Essence.

Only this definitely isn't it. Leo mused as he spared the item's name a glance. Poison Core of uncommon quality. Guess now I know where I can get cores. He wanted to read more, but this wasn't the time for it, so he took a knee and removed the remnants of his backpack.

It still held, if barely. Not for long, though, and if Leo wanted something to carry his items in, then he either had to find a new bag fast or figure out how to store stuff inside his soul.

I know what I'm doing again this night... Leo snorted, unruffling his bloodied cloak and throwing it over his shoulders. The Queen's eyeballs and core went right inside the backpack, and he quickly tied the thing back to its previous position.

Move out.

Body still aching, Leo dashed toward the sealed entrance, his blades slicing through the slimy substance. Right away, a horde of hisses and screeches reached his ears, the sounds bouncing off the tunnel walls.

It stopped the sound from going out. Shit. They must be close already.

Essence burst out of his soul, Reinforcement once more igniting his muscles with additional power. Leo dived for the same tunnel he came from, his mind going a hundred miles per hour to backtrack the path he used to arrive here.

Not even twenty minutes to get out. Leo grimaced, speeding past a group of Ameist. Those Voidlings didn't even have a chance to blink before he disappeared from their sight. No stopping. No fucking fighting. Run straight for the exit.

Hunter growled within his mind, not liking the sound of his thoughts. Well, they would need to agree to disagree on this, as Leo wasn't risking fighting two more Queens just yet.

Later, okay? Later...

---

Must be close now! Leo screamed internally as he pushed his burning muscles to the limit. Despite not fully recovering from the fight with the Queen, he had never moved as fast as he did now. The dozens of Ameist behind him might have given him a nice incentive to run this quick, but the fact remained that he was definitely breaking all his personal records...

The howls and screeches echoed around him, their volume threatening to burst Leo's eardrums with each passing second. It was worse than even the heavy metal concert Lily once dragged him to, and that was saying a lot. He couldn't hear properly for a few days afterward.

Gonna need to devour a few Voidlings once I get out. No way in hell I'm waiting for this to hea- Fuck!

From another tunnel, a large group of Ameist Minions burst out, blocking the path. Knowing he couldn't take another detour, Leo channeled as much Essence into Valreon Protection as he could and charged straight for the blockade.

The ants ahead fired their acid shots, but Leo just raised his hand, letting the projectiles splatter against the Essence shield. They tried once more, but at this point, he had already reached the group and sailed right above them, slicing through one of the beasts on the way.

Without looking back, Leo gave Reinforcement another burst and sped away. The accursed screeching echoing from all sides might have tried to stop it, but his ears still picked up the whistling of the wind ahead, which could mean only one thing.

Exit.

Leo dashed past the last turn of this twisted tunnel, a grin blooming on his face at the sight of the light ahead. The exit was closing slowly, but there was no way it could stop him now.

On all fours, he jumped through the hole, the evening sun hitting his body with all the rays that got past the enormous plants in the area. Leo's smile widened, and he stopped a fair distance away from the Nest entrance, his gaze scanning for any Ameist that would run out at any moment.

However, even as a few monstrous heads popped out of the entrance, none stepped past it. Their crimson eyes just passed over Leo, throwing a last glare and hiss at him before retreating.

So they can't go out during the quarantine. Quite understandable. Wonder how long it will take for the Nest to open again. Hopefully, it's not too long, or I just took away the source of experience from the Safe Zone. Leo shrugged. Oh well. Hindsight is twenty-twenty...

Before long, the Nest entrance snapped close, the Vetilim pausing in its movement. It was like the hole never existed here.

Right... Leo blinked, turning away. My job here is done. I had enough adventures for today...

---

The way back to the house Leo cleared to spend the night was quite short. It could have been even shorter if he didn't need to find a few Voidlings to devour on the way, but it was either that or waiting for his body to heal on its own.

Yeah, no thanks. Leo snorted, dropping down on what was once a pretty nice couch. Now, the Void and Vetilim mostly claimed the thing, but it was still better than the floor.

Notifications, core, and then practice. Night should be around the corner, anyway.

With a nod, Leo tore the backpack from its resting place and dropped all the items inside onto his lap. The gun, along with some ammo, fell out first, followed by the core, the Queen's eyes, and some other miscellaneous that didn't really survive the fight with the beast.

Gonna need to see if the gun still works later... Leo frowned, putting the firearm and eyes away while grabbing the core. Identify.

Poison Core (Uncommon):
A very basic beast core harvested from a level sixteen Ameist Queen. This item can be used in a wide variety of jobs. Additionally, it can also provide help to Users who want to deepen their connection to Poison affinity. Please be warned that affinity cores can easily destabilize and lose their value.

Leo hummed, reading the description again just to remember it better. Different... So much different from Crystalized Essence. I mean, I can't even turn this into a bomb...

Hunter snickered inside his mind, and Leo just gave him a mental push to shut it up. The beast didn't, but it was worth the try.

I will have to hide it somewhere. Bet my constant fighting will destabilize this stuff real quick, and I might find some use for it in the future. Not to gain an affinity, though. I highly doubt something so small can get me so far, but if other jobs can use it, then maybe...

Sighing, Leo put the core away and summoned the remaining System notifications. They waited long enough.

Level 15 reached. Class and Racial attributes have been distributed. Please assign your 3 free points.

Level-up. Always nice to see the progress. Now, where to put you? Last time, Leo went with the areas he found lacking. So why not follow this pattern? Right then. One to Might and two to Soul again. Will probably switch it up after that.

The level-up message disappeared right away, followed by the appearance of the usual surge of strength. Yet, it wasn't the only new thing to emerge.

Assassin level fifteen skill granted: Phantom Erasure

Interesting...