Chapter 13: | Inadequate!
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My heart pounded.
Loud.
Unrelenting.
I stood frozen, the world narrowed to a singular point.
Each beat thundered in my ears, drowning out reason.
Yet…
I didn't move.
I couldn't.
Couldn't breathe.
Couldn't blink.
Only listen.
To the rhythm of my own existence.
To the sound of my own fear.
I stared at the door, unchanging, immovable.
Then, slowly, my gaze dropped.
To the bicorne in my hands.
Kalix's bicorne.
I raised my fist.
Knocked once.
Twice.
A soft, familiar voice answered from within.
"Coming."
The door creaked open.
And there she was.
Sofia.
And the moment our eyes met.
My fears solidified.
My knees gave out.
And I collapsed.
The words tumbled from me, raw and broken.
"Kalix… he... he passed away."
"Sofia, I'm sorry."
"I'm really sorry…"
"Please forgive me…"
My forehead touched the floor.
My body trembled.
"My... my only friend is gone…"
"And I... I was powerless to stop it."
Silence.
Then.
Sofia stepped forward.
She didn't speak at first, just reached out, her hand hovering over the bicorne.
Trembling.
I hesitated.
Then released it.
She held it close, gently.
Like something sacred.
"…I see."
Her voice was barely a whisper.
Too calm.
Too steady.
But her hands…
They trembled more than mine.
"So Kalix won't be able to attend David's ordainment after all…"
A soft, bitter laugh slipped from her lips.
"…No need to apologize, Gregory."
She smiled.
But her eyes betrayed her.
Tears streamed freely now.
Her voice cracked.
"…Kalix told me he could die any day. That it was part of his duty."
"That it was better to go out there…"
"…Than to waste away in silence."
She wiped at her eyes, but the tears wouldn't stop.
Her shoulders began to shake.
Then.
She broke.
A sob tore from her throat.
A sound raw and human.
"Oh my… I'm crying?"
"…That can't be right, can it?"
Her smile faded.
Her breath hitched.
"…S-sob. Sob. Sob…"
"…Gregory… what do I do now?"
Her fingers clutched the bicorne tighter.
Like it could answer.
"…Kalix… he… he's gone…"
"What should I do…?"
I watched her.
And finally…
I let out a bitter smile.
Sofia was trying.
Trying so hard to stay strong.
To act like nothing had changed.
But grief couldn't be hidden forever.
And neither could mine.
That night, the cries of a widow and a friend echoed into the dark.
Raw.
Unfiltered.
Because no matter how long you suppress it…
Sometimes the only way to breathe again.
Is to cry.
---
Months later.
The ocean had changed.
Or maybe it was just me.
Carcasses floated across the silent currents, drifting like leaves over poisoned earth.
I watched them.
Cold.
Detached.
Their stillness didn't bother me.
The blood on my maw didn't weigh on my conscience.
The howls of my siblings echoed behind me.
Fear.
Defiance.
But not resistance.
They knew.
Just like I did.
Even if I devoured them all…
It wouldn't be enough.
Their combined EXP couldn't lift me to where I needed to be.
Where I deserved to be.
I exhaled sharply.
Bit down rage.
Then my eyes locked onto the status window before me.
And my jaw tightened.
Damn it.
---
Name: ALISTER VON FAI
Titles: Kinslayer, Kin Devourer, Predator of the impossible, A Mortal with Mana?!!.
Race: [★] Whark
Stage: 0
Tier: 6
Level: 22/30
EXP: 100,000/171,000
Class: (Locked)
Subclass: (Locked)
Inventory: (Locked)
Equipment: (Locked)
---
Stats
Health: 100/100 (+1 per level)
Stamina: 100/100 (+1 per level)
Mana: 19/19
Physique: 1.00 (+0.1 per level)
Mystique: 0.11
Charm: 1
Luck: 1
---
Bloodlines
mundane Bloodline
1. Harbinger of Myth - Sealed[9/10]
Lesser Bloodline
Normal Bloodline
Greater Bloodline
Noble Bloodline
Emperor Bloodline
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Bloodline skills
1. Myth Voracity (Weakened)
The core ability of the Harbinger of Myth, allowing them to devour the myth—skills and stats—of others. However, a powerful curse has severely weakened it. Now, rather than guaranteed absorption, it only grants a chance to consume these traits. Despite this, it still feeds on the myth of those the Harbinger consumes.
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Affinity
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Skills
1. Apex Predator Physique (Passive) Level 24 (Tier 8)
Your body has undergone further refinement, enhancing strength, endurance, and agility without unnecessary bulk. Muscles have become denser and more efficient, bones harder to break, and tendons more elastic, allowing for greater speed and control. Your vision processes motion faster, stamina recovers more efficiently, and wounds close at an accelerated rate, ensuring sustained combat performance with reduced fatigue. Your digestive system has also improved, breaking down food more quickly and efficiently, neutralizing toxins, and accelerating nutrient absorption for faster energy recovery. Though not yet at its peak, your physique has evolved into a near-perfect balance of power, resilience, and efficiency.
1. Diamond Maw (Passive) Level 5
Your teeth have fused with dense mineral deposits, making them nearly unbreakable. They retain a razor-sharp edge even after continuous use, allowing you to bite through bone, armor, and hardened materials with ease. Each bite delivers immense crushing force, capable of splintering even reinforced structures.
3. Titanic Bulk (Passive) Level 5
Your body has reached an overwhelming level of mass and density, granting immense durability and stability. You are nearly impossible to knock back or stagger, and your sheer weight amplifies the force of your strikes. Even without active defense, your natural bulk reduces incoming damage, making you a walking fortress in combat.
4. Accel Dash (Active - 1 stamina per seconds) Level 5
The Whark can suddenly burst forward at immense speed, closing gaps near-instantly. It can also use this skill defensively to escape or reposition mid-fight.
5. Phantom Shift (Active - 5 stamina per activation) Level 5
A rapid, unpredictable maneuver that allows the Whark to momentarily blur out of sight before striking from an unexpected angle. It works best in open waters where there are fewer obstacles.
6. Gleaming Scales (Passive) Level 5
Its scales have a natural metallic coating, reducing water resistance and allowing it to move faster while providing moderate resistance against slashing and piercing attacks.
7. Crystal Core (Passive) Level 4
A mana-rich core embedded in the Whark's skull, enhancing its strength, regeneration, and mana control. It passively absorbs energy and, when critically wounded, can unleash a burst of power for a temporary boost in combat.
8. Apex Reflex (Passive) Level 5
Possessing monstrous reaction speed, the Phantom Mirage Whark perceives and responds to danger with unnatural precision. Its body adjusts mid-movement, dodging attacks with effortless fluidity, as if instinct alone guides its every motion.
9. Mirage Veil (Passive) Level 3
A natural cloak of deception, the Phantom Mirage Whark bends light and distorts sound, shrouding itself in illusion. Its form flickers between reality and mirage, making it appear as nothing more than a phantom drifting through the abyss.
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Unique skills:
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DAMN IT!
All of it.
Everything I did, everything I sacrificed.
Was futile!
Utterly, disgustingly futile.
I killed.
I devoured.
I clawed my way up with bloodied limbs and bloodier purpose, convinced, certain, that I was destined to ascend, to join the ranks of the Emperors.
But this… this mockery?
This was absurd.
The experience I needed just to gain a single level was monstrous.
A mountain.
And these last few Wharks… they weren't worth the air they breathed.
They were fodder.
Nothing more.
I had waded through rivers of ichor for this?
No.
No hope.
That truth alone was enough to make something inside me crack.
My gaze swept across the cavern, the so-called breeding grounds.
The aftermath of my rampage lay everywhere.
Twisted bodies, carcasses still steaming.
Broken shells of unborn young scattered like shattered dreams.
Once, this place pulsed with life and vibrancy.
Now?
Now it reeked of rot and regret.
A chuckle escaped my maw.
Hollow.
Ragged.
There they were, nine of them.
The last.
All of them grievously injured.
Hovering.
Twitching.
Whimpering.
They weren't enough.
Not even close.
And the worst part?
Even if I devoured every last one, I'd gain nothing of worth.
Their strength paled compared to me.
I had surpassed their previous tier.
The chance of absorbing a skill from them?
Practically nonexistent.
Pathetic.
I was pathetic.
Everything I'd planned…
Collapsed.
I celebrated too soon.
Thought I'd won.
Thought the path was clear.
But all I was left with now were nine half-dead idiots.
And my sister.
That delusional, smiling fool.
I snarled.
Frustration boiled over.
Maybe fate never intended for me to ascend.
I opened my jaws.
Tilted my head back.
And howled.
GROOARGG!
A challenge.
A cry of anguish.
A curse hurled at the sky and whatever gods might've been listening.
The remaining nine locked eyes with me.
Defiant.
Desperate.
They knew.
Even if I devoured them, it would barely move the needle.
Not enough experience.
Not enough for anything.
They refused to die easy.
And I couldn't blame them.
But I'd come too far to stop now.
I had to finish it.
I let go.
Let instinct take the reins.
My body, blurred.
Vanished.
Reappeared, behind an unsuspecting guy.
It was a new variant.
Its scales shimmered with glacial light, exuding an aura of freezing death, five meters wide, swirling with frost.
But it wasn't enough.
The cold barely registered.
This one was the weakest.
SNAP.
CRUNCH.
---
[You have slain.]
• A Stage 1 Tier 1 Level 3 [★★★ Frostfang Whark]
[You have gained 33,000 EXP.]
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I exhaled.
Disappointing.
I needed more.
So much more.
This cavern, this breeding ground, was too weak.
Too safe.
Too tame.
My sister waved at me from the sidelines, amused.
Detached.
I didn't even look her way.
The remaining eight charged me, maybe out of desperation, maybe pride.
I sighed.
Still too weak.
Their combined assault was like gnats clawing at a mountain.
I didn't flinch. Didn't blink.
It was meaningless.
Trying to push Apex Predator Physique past Tier 8 felt like trying to move a mountain with a toothpick.
I stared at the carnage.
The cavern.
The eggs.
The corpses.
Everything.
And I wondered.
What was the point of this place?
A breeding ground?
A placd to create an emperor?
If this was the best they had, then it was nothing but a graveyard of wasted effort.
Had they abandoned this breeding ground?
Had they given up?
Weeks ago… I felt it.
That monstrous presence to the south.
Disappeared.
Did it die?
But I couldn't careless.
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