Chapter 451: Little Bean (1/2)

The single tree looked like any ordinary one, apart from its lack of branches. But it quickly grew into a tremendous spike, like the finger of a forest god. It just took a second for it to grow to a size that almost eclipsed the mountains he had pulled through the array before, and the tip of the tree pushed straight toward the command center beneath.

A shocking burst of energy rippled out from the massive avatar's weapon, and multiple layers of the protective membrane of [Nature’s Barrier] were decimated even though the princess aimed at [Nature’s Punishment] rather than in his direction.

A hollow with a diameter of almost fifty meters was punched straight through the wooden spike, but hundreds of branches grew from the hole and merged to restore its original form. Zac felt a huge strain on his mind from the increased consumption, but he could only grit his teeth as he pierced the avatar with his punishment.

The avatar only managed to ineffectually rip off a few layers of the branch before it was forcibly dispelled, and the branch passed through the chaotic energies as it slammed straight into the command tent where the princess resided. The ground heaved and cracked and Zac felt a surge of energy enter his body,

A shudder went through his body as a storm of miasma spread to every inch. The hundreds of leaves around him disappeared into motes of lights, and the verdant forest of [Hatchetman’s Spirit] was gone a second later. Only the towering tree remained as a testament of his earlier attacks.

That didn't mean the army was safe though, as billowing clouds of corrosion and miasma quickly spread out before the warriors had time to understand what was going on.

This was the true power of the upgraded core, and it was the only feature that mattered as far as Zac was concerned. It was disappointing that it hadn’t provided any attributes when reaching E-Grade, but the transformation only took a second now as long as he used Yrial’s Transformation skill.

Not only that, but he had also learned that he could now transform twice before he needed to wait for an hour again. In other words, he could now almost completely freely use his two classes in one battle as long as he had a second to spare during a fight.

Zac stomped the ground and appeared next to the massive branch that was stabbed into the ground, just in time to see a part of it explode as his target emerged. She was drenched in blood and one of her arms hung limply to her side, but she still radiated the aura of someone with a fight left in her.

The cage of [Profane Seal] was erected with the branch in the middle, and five of the chains immediately cut into the massive piece of wood. A surge of energy entered Zac’s body as he started his usual whittling down of his enemy.

It was one interesting perk he had found from being able to quickly change between classes. Most of his skills disappeared when he changed classes, but there were two exceptions. The first exception was the punishments he could summon through [Nature's Punishment], like the tree he was able to call forth since gaining the Fragment of the Bodhi.

It was teeming with lifeforce that the chains could steal and then feed to his Draugr-form. This synergy was why he opted for the tree rather than the massive mountain he usually used.

It made him even more unkillable as the piece of wood turned into an enormous battery that would keep him going far longer than he would be able to without. It was to the point that miasma steamed out of his body due to overconsumption, which further aligned the surroundings in his favor against living enemies.

The second skill that lingered was [Winds of Decay]. The skill was made from his breath, so it didn’t matter that he changed class as the mists remained. This wasn’t as much of a boon though as the skill targeted him the moment he changed to his human form. It didn’t bother him thanks to his huge pool of Vitality, but it was still pretty uncomfortable to stand inside.

The miasmic cage shook as the two clashed one time after another, but soon enough the princess couldn’t stand it any longer. Her body was covered in festering wounds as the armor-clad Zac towered above her.

“Why?” she asked with fury and despair in her eyes. “Who are you?”

“Fate, I guess,” Zac answered as his bardiche fell.

Zac didn’t swap back to his human form just yet as he wasn’t sure what would await him at the other side of the teleporter. He rather just restored his reserves to peak condition before he stepped through to the next realm.

It felt like he was being squeezed for every piece of potential he had, and he was embroiled in constant battle as he kept going. At least it kept the Splinter mostly satiated as he ripped through the later levels of the 8th floor. Unfortunately, he never heard of any treasures or inheritances that seemed able to restrain the corruption in his mind, and this continued all the way to the 71st level.

The second-to-last level of the 8th floor would no doubt be a real nightmare, but his all-out push the past weeks had at least made sure he had over 3 days to complete it. [Verun’s Bite] was already high in the air to counter any sneak-attack, and Zac had equipped [Everlasting] and changed into his Draugr form just in case of a sudden assault.

But when the scenery changed he realized there would be no ambush this time around the moment he stepped through the teleporter. The surprising stillness even seemed to subdue the splinter in his mind as it crept into the back of its miasmic cage.

He was in a small cabin that was best described as futuristic. The whole wall in front of him was just one massive screen that seemed to be showing a blueprint, and another wall displayed a majestic nebula and stars that were fixed in the distance. Zac almost forgot he was in the Tower of Eternity for a second as he looked around with excitement.

Was he on a spaceship?

That was the immediate conclusion judging by the screen in front of him, unless he was reading the blueprint completely wrong. The map showed an elongated vessel that looked pretty sleek apart from a large circular bulb in the middle, and Zac found that he was able to zoom in and out by touching the screen.

The first thing he could see was that the ship was just massive. He was currently in a section that seemed to house thousands of cabins, just like the cabin floors on a cruise liner. The cabin he was in was around twenty square meters, and while it was less than a tenth the size of the largest cabin, it was still a decent size.

Each cabin had a series of numbers or letters marked, though Zac couldn’t read them. He guessed it was either the name or serial number of the person who lived inside. Some cabins were pretty large, but they had over twenty numbers attached, meaning they were probably barracks or shared domiciles.

Perhaps the cabin belonged to some sort of middle-management or a petty officer on board the space cruiser. The huge number of cabins only took up a small section of the total space on the ship though, and he saw that there were more sections just like it. If it wasn’t due to the shape and the two massive thrusters at the back of the vessel he would have thought it was rather a space station than a ship.

He tried to engrave every detail into his mind in case he needed it later, but it seemed the resident of this cabin only had limited access as over half the ship was blacked out except the general outline. Perhaps those sections were critical parts of the ship only accessible to authorized personnel.

Zac eventually backed away and tried to figure out his next step. A quest screen conveniently appeared after he retreated though, indicating what needed to be done.

[Stop the Little Bean from returning from its expedition.]