Luke was excited by the information revealed to him from Ella, he laid sprawled on the ground chest heaving as he stared happily at the codex presented at his front. And not only that, he had also gotten a new accessory.
Luke had often wondered how exactly the shape shifter skill would function or turn out to be, would he just randomly copy the form of random humans and void creatures and possibly even get the exact replica of their abilities?
The option wasn’t there from the beginning, so luke knew it was something else..
That question was answered to him now, although he was not certain of humans yet, he was now certain that he had to kill void creatures before he could take their form, which seemed reasonable to him. He had to earn it.
Luke decided to check the accessory he had received from killing the stone beetle, he focused on the codex shimmering at his front.
[Stone shard]:
Accessory type: Weapon
Accessory rank:Dormant
Accessory tier: 1
Lore:A lone Stone Beetle wandered from its void colony to a stream that carried the purest essence of water. For decades it remained at the edge, allowing the ceaseless currents to wash over its rocky shell. When the creature eventually perished, an ore fragment crystallized it into what is now known as the Stone Shard. Though born of ore, it forever carries the blessing of flowing water.
Ability:
Aqua Resonance – While carried, the user can sense nearby sources of fresh water within a limited radius. The Stone Shard gradually absorbs pure essence, growing stronger over time. It grants slight resistance to dehydration and heat, while allowing its wielder to inflict enhanced water based attacks.
Luke proceeded to check the description of the stone beetle that had appeared beside Chris..
[Stone Beetle]: It is a territorial, Void Creature that camouflages itself as an ordinary boulder. It’s immense defensive capabilities and explosive bursts of speed makes it a deadly ambush predator despite its sluggish appearance. It relies on water to gradually strengthen its body and repair minor cracks over time.
Luke studied the description of the stone beetle and its ability from word to word, what he had gained from the short explanation was that the stone beetle’s nature had something to do with ore and a water source. He would have loved to shape shift into the bettle immediately, however Luke knew his transformation into a void creature wouldn’t be painless , the image of him being a void creature was enticing but also traumatic in a way. He wouldn’t use it just yet.
He paused and stood, the previous bleeding had come to a halt, all around him were various large mush rooms, towering over twelve feet in height. Luke scanned the environment for any more boulders, there were a few in sight, meters away from his location, he had the urge to test the stone shard and even get more stat points, however Luke knew, he would also need to camp somewhere for the night.
He heaved a sigh and reached for his back pack, inside was the water flask and various compressed ration bars he had brought with him. Luke uncovered the water flask and took a sip, he had six days left and he was going to make proper use of each and every one of them.
Having drank the water from the flask, Luke returned the flask to his bag and dropped the bag on the ground beside one of the large mushrooms, he equipped the stone shard.
Just like the ore he had picked up earlier to kill the stone beetle, the stone shard was also similar, it was blue and translucent, cool to the touch and reflected the rays of the sunlight. However it was also curved and had a sharp edge.
Luke stepped forward towards were he had seen the disguised stone beetles, it was time to get some stats points and most likely, level up.
***
The Stone Beetle screeched, its mandibles grinding together like slabs of stone.
Without warning, it lunged.
Luke twisted aside as the jagged mandibles slammed into the mushroom where he had been standing moments before. Chunks of earth and wet moss exploded into the air.
"So fast..." Luke muttered as he bursted into a sprint.
The creature wheeled around with surprising agility, its six legs digging deep into the ground before launching it forward again.
Luke moved between towering mushrooms, using their thick stalks as cover.
Crash!
The Stone Beetle rammed straight through each one of them. The massive mushrooms toppled over with deafening thuds, spraying blue spores into the air.
Luke didn’t stop running.
He snatched a loose stone from the ground and hurled it.
Clang!
The rock bounced harmlessly off the beetle’s rocky shell.
The beetle shrieked getting closer.
Luke dove aside just as its stone plated body rammed into a jagged rock. The impact cracked the rock but left the creature unharmed.
The beetle rushed again.
Luke waited.
At the last possible instant, he threw himself sideways. The beetle barreled past him, unable to stop immediately, Luke immediately seized the chance.
He leapt onto its back, his wooden boots dangling on the sides.
The spawned beast bucked violently, trying to throw him off, Luke on the other hand
drove the Stone Shard toward the exposed gap beneath the carapace.
The Stone beetles mandibles caught the Stone Shard in place, while slamming its body against the ground.
The impact almost toppled Luke over, his grip on the stone armor slipped, without hesitation he pulled the glistening Stone shard free.
He drove it back down in an horizontal arc, cutting down one of the mandibles, he then pushed the shard downward into the narrow fissure.
Crunch.
The beetle froze.
A guttural screech echoed across the dungeon as it’s massive body collapsed.
Then Ella’s voice echoed in Luke’s ears.
[You have killed a Spawn beast, Stone Beetle.]
[You have leveled up! ]
Luke lifted himself off the stone beetle, crashed on the ground and rolled onto his back.
"That’s more than seven today." Luke muttered to himself, he had simply stalked each stone beetle, got them to chase him and killed them while riding on their backs, each fights were similar but peculiar and also required a lot of patience, he had not gotten any accessories from each of the fights, but rather a lot of stat points.
"Now where did I keep my bag?"