Chapter 23 – Clash in the Library (Part II)
The barbed tail lashed forward, hissing through the air.
Seth ducked on instinct alone. The strike grazed his cheek, searing fire across his skin as blood sprayed. Stone behind him shattered into flying shards. Dust rained down, filling his mouth with grit. His knees buckled, nearly collapsing beneath him.
The beast spun with terrifying grace, lunging again. Seth stumbled back behind a half-collapsed wall—pointless. The lizard smashed through the stone like it was paper, debris exploding outward.
Seth slashed wildly, his sword scraping across its flank. Sparks exploded, metal ringing against scales as his wrist jolted numb. The blade bounced uselessly, leaving the creature unmarked.
His chest heaved, every breath a ragged stab. His vision swam, edges darkening. He was running on fumes.
The monster's slit pupils narrowed. Its jaws opened wide, breath hissing out hot and foul, like burning copper. The hiss echoed through the ruined halls like metal scraping stone.
It lunged.
Seth threw himself sideways, rolling just in time. Its teeth clamped shut where his torso had been, stone tiles erupting beneath its bite. Heat scalded his skin from its breath alone.
Cornered. Every movement survival by inches. Broken shelves hemmed him in. Crumbling walls sealed off any path. His sword dripped blood—his own. His arms trembled so violently he could barely keep the weapon raised.
The beast reared back for the killing blow.
"Shit…" Seth rasped, blood dripping from his lips. A hollow laugh broke from his throat. "Beaten to death… by an overgrown lizard… in a library."
Seth met its eyes. And in that gleam of cruel intelligence, in that certainty of death, he acted.
He threw his sword.
The weapon spun, hissing through the air. The beast's head twitched aside, eyes trailing it. For an instant, just an instant, its focus wavered.
Seth's body moved before thought.
He charged. Pain screamed through every muscle, every bone. He leapt onto the creature's scaled body, scrambling desperately toward its head. In the same instant, he willed it—
The sword vanished.
Then reappeared in his grip.
He raised it high, broken arm braced clumsily against the hilt for leverage. A raw scream tore from his throat as he brought it down with everything he had.
The blade gleamed unnaturally, slipping through the shimmering energy like silk.
The point sank into the beast's skull. Handle-deep.
The lizard's hiss turned to a shriek, high and piercing. Its body thrashed violently, smashing through walls, scattering rubble. Seth clung to the hilt with white knuckles, screaming with it, as if his voice alone could anchor him.
The beast slammed itself against stone, flung its tail wildly, clawed at the ground. It wanted him off.
With a final convulsion, it reared, then smashed sideways.
Seth's body tore free, flung like a rag through a broken wall. He crashed outside, rolling over dirt and debris until he slid to a stop. His bones screamed, vision dimming, but through the haze he saw—
The lizard's tail reached up, coiling toward the sword jutting from its skull.
It tugged once.
And then the blade pulsed.
A ripple of force surged along its length. The weapon magnified—expanding with a shriek of steel, cleaving wider and deeper. The lizard's skull split apart with a wet crack, blood and brain spraying as the sword grew massive, pinning its head to the earth.
The monster twitched twice, then went still.
Silence.
Seth's knees gave out. He collapsed backward onto the ground, ragged chuckles bubbling from his chest. His laugh was hollow, cracked, closer to weeping than joy.
Alive. Against all odds. Alive.
His gaze lingered on the twitching carcass, then drifted upward to the night sky. The moon light landing on it through the fractured roof. His broken arm throbbed. His ribs stabbed with every breath. But he was alive.
Alive… while the beast was not.
A flicker of memory rose, sharp and clear. The day he had bound with the weapon. He had checked its description then, smiling faintly at the thought.
Soul Weapon: One Sword
Rank: Initiate
Description: A soul-bound weapon that grows alongside its wielder. It cannot be broken or stolen and can be stored within the wielder's soul.
Skills:
Sever — Imbues the blade with absolute sharpness, capable of cutting through defenses up to three ranks higher than the wielder.
Magnify — The sword can change its dimensions at will, extending or expanding its edge in defiance of weight or balance, if feed enough energy, it can grow to the size of a #######
?????? (Locked)
?????? (Locked)
He had forgotten it as he never needed it—until now.
Breaking his thoughts.
A chime echoed.
[You have absorbed the soul of a Level 1 — Novice-ranked being.] +1.0 SP.
So that was it. That explained its terrifying strength. It was a beast above the Initiate rank. Novice—so that was the name of the next rank…. Noted.
Looking at the dead lizard one last time, Seth could not feel any joy at defeating a beast of that rank after all doing so had left him near death.
"…Luck…" Seth croaked, voice cracking. A bitter laugh escaped his lips. "That's all it was…"
He staggered upright, every step a battle. The sky had darkened, thick clouds gathering. A downpour was coming.
Step by step, he dragged himself back through the broken wall into the library.
The fire had gone out. The ruined chamber lay silent once more.