[Avatar] 13 – Desperate Gamble

[1647 Words]

As I sat in the empty hallway in a meditative pose, letting my flesh and mind knit themselves back together, I focused on the extra soul housed within me. It was but an ember compared to the roaring flame that I assumed was my own soul, and with it latched onto my soul like a parasite, it seemed to receive the same benefits as my body, growing in intensity with each passing minute.

In the hour I spent in the hall, Meditation was pushed and pushed further than ever before, and in this short amount of time, it progressed by four entire levels, reaching level 17 and only increasing the benefits it gave me further with each level it gained, as it now sat at a bonus of 27% to my MP recovery.

I did not know what to do with the soul before me, but I had a few ideas, albeit risky and possible ones. Each of my ideas was based on Fiction from my last life, and would more than likely not work, but what else was I going to do with a soul? It's not like I was Voldemort and could make some form of a Horcrux.

My ideas were simple in thought, but I had no real way to implement them anytime soon without research and experimentation.

The first idea that came to mind was to use the Soul to fuel my growth, Dark Souls style. How could I do that without accidentally mutilating my own soul? I had no idea. The second idea that came to mind was to use the soul as a base for some Harry Potter-style Horcrux, essentially giving me a second chance at life if I were to die. Not really an appealing choice, seeing what happened to Voldemort in the movies and the books, I think I'd rather die in that case than end up like he did.

My third idea was to utilize the soul as a kind of attack dog, throwing the soul attack at whatever was in my way and hoping it would either deal damage or subsume the soul I threw at it. How that may end, I had no idea, nor how that could feasibly work. It could even backfire if the soul weren't truly under my control.

The fourth and last idea I had was to use the Soul as a base to make my own Ghost/Specter/Wraith army, like Tailon did when he summoned an entire Ghost Army to attack his enemies, which sounded and looked very cool, I will admit.

However, I’d save that all for later, as I finally healed enough to get to work.

I grabbed my sword and stood up. I had an idea on how to take on the Sith Hounds, but it would only work if I got the drop on them before they could ambush me. 

…

As I crept through the winding corridors filled with rubble and debris, with some corridors also collapsed, requiring me to find a way around, I swept each room, searching for any sign of the Sith Hounds. 

Instead, I continued to find more and more signs of battle etched into the ruins around me. I even found a few skeletons with somewhat intact armor, though rusted or heavily damaged enough to hardly give any protection against harm after the ages of no maintenance. 

The only armor I ended up grabbing for myself was two rusted wrist guards, two rusted metal shin guards, and a rusted chest piece that I struggled to keep strapped to my body due to its larger size. 

I doubted it would do much to protect me, but anything was better than the mere robes I wore. As for the added weight, I did not mind if the armor proved durable enough to protect my bare flesh from harm for even a moment more than my robe would do.

Much of what I walked through was both familiar and unfamiliar, as the Academy seemed to have undergone vast reconstruction and restoration efforts in many areas. In contrast, others were left as they were before whatever event caused the Academy so much damage and death. 

It didn’t take long before I saw evidence of the Sith Dogs having been nearby, mainly in the form of tracks and dung. 

Following the tracks, I was pleasantly surprised to obtain a new skill from it.

-[Tracking]-

Type: Passive/General

Level: 1/100

Description: A Skill Common to all forms of life, big and small, describing how one being follows the traces of another to find, avoid, hunt, or for some other reason. With each level, you’ll find that tracking becomes easier, and what you had not noticed before is now apparent to you.

It could be a helpful skill in the future, although I didn't believe I’d spend a lot of time hunting or searching for people in terrain that allowed for tracking. 

Continuing my hunt, I followed the tracks to what appeared to be a training hall that was partially collapsed, revealing the surface and many burrows that intersected between the ruins of the academy and the mountain, but before I could investigate further, my [Danger Sense] flared in warning and in a fraction of a moment later, a maw was upon me, having lunged from behind a pile of rubble. 

[Tuk’ata (Male) - Level ?]

I cursed and brought my arm up, part of its maw catching on the wrist guard while a row of its teeth dug into the flesh of my arm.

Pain flared in my mind as I kicked the Sith Hound off of me and backed off, only to be attacked from another angle. This time, Danger Sense gave me enough warning to dodge out of the way in time and use [Force Push] to launch my sword forward and directly into the advancing Sith Hound that bit me. At the same time, I lunged forward to take advantage of the Sith Hound that missed its lunge. 

Ignoring the kill notification from the Hound I threw my sword at, I focused all of my attention on subduing the Hound I had in my hands. It was stronger than I was, and my efforts were quickly waning in strength as it constantly increased its struggling.

Gritting my teeth, I used Telkenisis to thrust a rock nearby into my hand before bashing the Hound's head in, making it whine and thrash even more, but with a few more good hits, its struggling ceased, leaving it a twitching carcass.

 Ignoring the two-level-up notifications, I focused on the Sith Hounds that surrounded me, revealing themselves after the death of their kin. 

 There were three of them, and they each stalked around me in a pyramid-like shape. Every time I focused on one, the other two edged closer or acted like they would strike, but one look from me and they stopped in their tracks, only continuing to circle me. 

I had used 25 of my 45 MP on that singular Force Push and another three on pulling a rock to me, and I knew that the rock wouldn’t cut it if all three of them charged me at once. 

They didn’t stop nor advance as I inched closer to the carcass with my sword, but with each passing moment they became braver and more of a threat, as they came closer and closer. 

Just as my foot hit the carcass of the Sith Hound that my blade had been launched into like a spear, one of the Sith Hounds lunged forward, and I instinctively kicked up, hard.

The beast whimpered and retreated, but the other two took their chances, finally lunging together at the same time, and I wasted no time in grabbing several rocks nearby with Telekinesis and throwing them directly into the faces of the beasts in hopes of disorienting or hurting them. 

In that exact moment, I reached out for the sword only to try to pull it out with no result. Cursing, I leapt to the side as one of the beasts crashed into where I had stood moments ago, and the other Sith Hound collided with me and chomped into my already wounded leg, making me cry out in pain.

I wasted no time and smashed down with all my strength, holding the piece of rubble I had used to kill one of the two Hounds earlier, and smiled when I heard the sickening crunch of its skull breaking. 

The other two remaining then leaped onto me, their combined strength tearing me to the ground as they bit, clawed, and tore through my robes and flesh alike. Still, my desperation turned to anger as the pain that wracked my mind fueled my rage further until raw, overwhelming strength filled me. I found myself ripping open the head of one of the Hounds and punching the other strong enough to break its teeth off in my skin, and sending it whimpering as it rolled across the ground.

My vision clouded red, as I did everything in my power to return the pain the Hounds inflicted on the last hound. I tore off each limb one by one, before plucking out each tooth with my bare hands. By the time I had inflicted enough pain to satisfy my rage, the hound died from shock and blood loss.

-[Force: Rage]-

Type: Active/Technique

Level: 1/100

Description: A technique invented by the Sith to channel their raw rage into overwhelming strength and ferocity in the heat of battle, giving the Sith an edge against an equal or superior enemy. -25 MP Per Second -10 HP Per Second. +10 Strength and +10 Endurance while in effect.

[+4 Levels]

[Force Telekenis Lvl 25 -> 28]

[Force Push Lvl 1 -> 4]

[Force Rage Lvl 1 -> 2]

[Basic CQC Lvl 11 -> 13]

[Pain Tolerance Lvl 27 -> 29]