Debauchery of a Soul-Eating Wraith

Chapter 165: Damage-Dealing Pincers!

The Shrill-Caller's 'Soul' rose out of its carcass as it flopped to the ground and of course, Evian allowed himself to the meal.

[You have acquired 10,000 Soul Points]

Evan took a few steps away from the Beast and went to the ground with his legs crossed and his eyes closed for concentration. After all, there was no time like the present.

'Update!'

[Balance: 26,587 Soul Points]

'I upgraded my Spear, purchased an incredible multi-purpose spell with chances of upgrades… It's about time I get the Manuscript that caused me to go on a binge hunt in the first place.

Open the Decadent Store!'

The Store opened and Evan clicked on the [Manuscripts] tab before scrolling to his target;

[Surbodination/Slave Seal Manuscript:

Create a Seal that matches your glorious Decadence and imprint it on your hapless targets.

Cost: 25000 Soul Points.

(Note: Cost will increase according to your Decadence so grab it while you still can!)]

—

He clicked on it for purchase and the predictable pop-up message appeared,

[Confirm the Purchase? Yes/No]

With a click of yes, a scroll pulled itself free from the Store in imprinted itself onto his mind. It didn't bring along pain but there was a lot of information involved that would require Evian to have a sit down to understand it. There was so much required in creating the Seal and it would actually require a delicate and gifted hand.

'Huh, is it bad that I was expecting it to be an easy process?

Oh well, I have time. I'll hunt with these ladies a bit more and return to City.'

"Evian?" Xania called from behind while she and the others got the many carcasses together and reaped as much as they could.

Peculiar as Evian was, he had granted them their greatest harvest since any of them had been hunting within this Forest and even if they had not been able to put their gratitude into words, they at least tried their best to speak to him as freely as they could.

"Hm?" Evian answered.

"Are you an Arcanist?" Xania asked.

"Mmm," Evian let out, "Am I? I don't think so."

"But you cast a spell…" Dana said.

"Actually, he cast two." Thana corrected counting the trap spell and the chain attacking spell as two separate Arcane arts.

"I don't know what to tell you but I'm not an Arcanist," Evian told them.

"Then you're both," Lora said confidently, "You can use Martial Techniques and can also cast spells… An Arcane Knight."

"Woah," Dana said, "That's possible?"

"We just saw it. Of course it is." Xania said.

"Mmm," Was all Evian said. Neither confirming nor denying.

"That's a great talent," Lora continued, "I heard the Martial Temple's Golden child is an Arcane Knight. If you have a talent comparable to the one hailed all over the Kingdom as a Monstrous Talent, then you must be well known."

As she spoke, Lora frowned.

Why would such a talent be doing most of the work in killing the Beasts they encountered and not be taking any of it for himself…

'Wait, Training! Is he using this hunt to train?'

Evian shook his head,

"I don't have that great a talent. Even if I can cast a few spells."

'No point denying what they have already seen. I'm actually relieved that they have not at all suspected I'm not wielding Spiritual energy even though they could so clearly feel it.'

"Also, I am not well known," Evian said, "I only just became an Official Border Knight earlier this week."

"You lie!" Thana said.

Someone who can fight as well as he can and cast spells so well is only a Border Knight? In what World?"

"Haha, But it's true," Evian said as he stretched out his insignia for them to look at,

"See— I'm just— Ack!"

Evian's words were immediately interrupted and his eyes widened as he went from looking at the disbelieving ladies and instead at the pincers stabbed into his chest.

Sharp as swords, the pincers broke past his ribs and the tip of one of the two even stabbed into Evian's heart.

'Shit! Pincers?… A Fifth Rank Beast?… I- I didn't sense it…

My Heart…

It's bleeding…

it's weakening.

Shit!

I need to move!

Why can't I move?!

Is this Pincer poisoned?

No, I'm in shock!

I'm dying and I'm in shock… The absolute bullshit of it all.'

A hand closed around the back of Evian's Shirt and it pulled him back, dislodging the pincers from his chest.

Evian's mouth opened in a silent scream as he spat out blood. With the pincers out of his body, he finally felt the immense pain. The worst of which was from his bleeding heart.

"What the fuck was that?" Lora asked.

"Pincers… I saw Pincers!" Dana said.

'Saw? Can she no longer see it?' Evian asked himself, too weak to speak.

"Healing potion!" Xania called. Evian assumed it was her hand that was on his wound trying to reduce the bleeding. Of course that was barely any help against the blood leaking out of his heart into his body and not through the proper channels.

"It's back!" Thana called out.

"I'll deal with it," Lora said and Evian heard heavy stomping of footsteps as she charged at an opponent he could not see.

He heard the swishing of her Broadsword followed by a hard *Clang* sound which Evian assumed was due to a Collison with the very pincers that had stabbed through his chest.

Xania held a Healing potion to his lips and poured it into Evian's mouth.

The moment the liquid got into Evian's body, it was attacked by his Eldritch Energy which immediately rendered it useless. It didn't even provide the tasteless refreshment that water would.

Evian had expected as much.

The reason he allowed Xania to feed it to him was as a cover for when he healed himself.

At the Cost of 1000 Soul Points, Evian fashioned himself a Heavy Injury Health Pack leaving him with a balance of [587 Soul Points].

He focused the healing on his punctured Heart and his body went cold when he realized it was not enough. Although the wound was not yet quite fatal, it was past the point of being just 'Heavy'. It would require more layers of Heavy Injury Health packs to Heal!

"Nggghhh!"

'It's not enough!'

"It's not enough!"

He and Xania thought/said simultaneously.

She fed him another Healing Potion.

It was useless and Evian knew he had to try again.

His remainder of [587 Soul Points] was not enough to complete another Heavy Injury Health Pack and he had never bought the Manuscript of a Light Injury Health Pack although that would have been useless.

'I have no choice. I'll just have to use an incomplete Health Pack!' Evian decided.

And so he did.

[Balance: 0 Soul Points]

Evian emptied his resources and for the first time since the first day he got to this world, his Balance reached zero but he succeeded in creating his one-half Health pack. It was unstable and weak but it supported the one already used in healing his heart to close up the wound, stop the bleeding, and allow blood flow to return to a pseudo-normal state.

He turned his head to the side, drew out all the blood that had leaked and flowed inside his body in one single heavy throw-up, and then he raised himself.

He saw a good number of ant hills having formed on the ground and assumed that was where the Beast had slunk away many times already.

Currently, it was on the surface, battling with Lora and Thana.

Speaking of which,

Lora and Thana were hacking at the Beast, their weapons, although making impact, were mostly clanging off its metal shell, and then it burrowed into the ground and emerged behind them to stab their exposed backs with its pincers.

With their senses out and strained as hard as they possibly could, the two ladies detected the approach and parried the pincers away before they could suffer a fatal wound.

The Ant-type Fifth Rank Beast was a difficult opponent. Apart from the fact that it could use burrowing to evade senses and could only be detected when it was actually on the surface, it was also as large as its similarly-ranked fellows while having an insane level of defense.

Its pincers were like swords and its shell was its armor. There were spaces within the shell that attackers could take advantage of but with the speed it possessed in movement and almost instantaneous burrowing, that had yet to come into play.

If the Beast had poison at the end of its pincers… Well, Evian would not have the chance to be watching the current battle.

"Damn it!" Lora groaned as the Beast burrowed away again after getting parried.

Meanwhile, despite being cautioned by Xania, Evian got to his feet and grabbed hold of his Spear. He needed another Health pack if he was going to survive and he needed that Beast's 'Soul' to do that. So of course, he couldn't stay idle.