Nero collapsed into the cavernous floor with a heavy thud.
Letting out an exhausted groan, he pulled out a small vial from his satchel. After downing the contents, he slid up against a wall.
A sizzling noise came from his body as it began to repair itself under the effects of the Divine Elixir.
He let out a sigh and glanced up.
"In the end, I just barely survived again. Still, this was the best outcome I could have hoped for."
Upon returning to his temporary abode, he was rather pleased to discover that it had not been ransacked upon his departure. That wan no Abomination had been by.
His body healed quickly under the power of the Elixir, but he still remained motionless.
'I've learned a few things from that battle.' Nero thought to himself...
'For one, as it stands, I am completely incapable of facing an Abomination, even the weakest ones, toe to toe without my sword. I would have had a much harder time without the toxic sap too.
He glanced down and pulled out three vials from his satchel. They were filled with a light purple substance that glistened under the glow of the bioluminescent algae. It was the toxic sap of the Purple Evergrowth tree he had harvested and placed within the vials that contained the Divine Elixir he had subconsciously kept.
'This thing... is very useful.'
Since he had now established he could not compete in a direct show of strength, the best he could do was play on his advantages.
After so many battles, he had come to conclude that most of these Abominations were twisted creatures driven mostly by their desires. Well, at least the low-tier ones he had come across.
While they were terrifying and frightening, most of them were simply no different from mindless beasts. He wondered if that would change soon.
"If that's the case, taking advantage of this should be straightforward."
It was so straightforward in fact, that it was already laid right in his palms.
"Applying the toxins directly onto my weapons isn't a bad idea. However, it leaves one to question efficiency..."
He paused for a moment,
"What I need, is some sort of ranged weapon. One that lets me take advantage of the inhibitions of most of these Abominations."
Although they were fast, most of the Abominations he had fought leaned more into their ferocious nature, completely trusting in their natural defenses instead of dodging or counterattacking.
"Oracle," he cleared his throat, "I want a ranged weapon."
{If the Heretic desires a ranged weapon, he could seek it out or make it itself}.
Nero's face fell,
"I was hoping you could give me one..."
In the town, there had been no one proficient with ranged weapons. This was because although such weapons were practical and useful against humans and weaker Abominations like the Grey Crows, they failed to be effective against larger Abominations with even slightly better defenses.
Even with arrows and bullets buried into its body, a lumbering Aberration would refuse to fall. The best thing to do, was to stab it right through the heart, or cut its head off for maximum efficiency, even though it was much more dangerous.
But how, the same was not true.
He frowned, wondering if there was a reason why no one else has thought to do the same thing he was doing.
He shrugged after pondering for some time.
{If the Heretic desires any items or boons, he can exchange his requests for them. However, if they are not currently available, the Heretic will have to obtain them by himself}.
Nero folded his arms,
"In other words, I have to do this on my own. That's fine, I guess..."
After thinking about it for some time, he decided to put the idea on hold. He had no idea how to make one at the moment, so dwelling on it would just be troublesome.
He sighed again.
The small corner within the cave that had become his place of dwelling was rather organized.
To prevent the Hordes of Beelzebub from swarming his place of dwelling, after killing an Abomination, he would usually go through the pains of cutting it up and disposing its parts away from the cave. With the Silver Blade, it was not very difficult too.
He had feared that the scent of blood would attract more Abominations than he could handle, but so far nothing terrible had happened.
It was through doing this, he had become convinced that the flesh of the Abominations was not something he could eat.
The corrupted blood flowing through their veins would destroy him from the inside out.
Just the smell of the semi-rotten flesh of the Mirehound had nearly been enough to send him to the four kings...
Picking through his stuff, he pulled out yhe last of his rations.
Looking down at the pitiful remains, Nero's brows furrowed.
He amount of food he had to eat seemed to increase as the days went by.
It hadn't even been a full week and almost everything was gone.
'Will I have to eat... Ashbread from now on?'
He shook his head.
He would rather avoid eating such a terrible thing for as long as possible.
Breaking a hard piece of bread, he placed it into his already salivating mouth.
The hard piece of bread softened. After chewing a bit, Nero swallowed.
The dried meats had more flavor than the bread, so he only had a small piece left.
With a depressed sigh, Nero finish his sad meal and drank the last of the water stored in his canteen.
Once he was done, he curled up into a ball.
Using the rest of his clothes as a cushion, he closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
***
Upon waking up, Nero sat still for a bit before looking at the mouth of the cave.
'It's dark outside.'
Night had come.
Most times, the temperature fell below freezing once it was night. If not for the warmth in the depths of the cave, he would have frozen to death a long time ago.
Since he wouldn't be going out to hunt at night, he had to think of other things to do to occupy himself...
Luckily, he didn't have to think for long, as the next moment, a terrifying growl came from the cave's entrance.
Nero's eyes narrowed as he watched a terrifying Shadow creep closer and closer until it completely covered the mouth of the cave.