Chapter 110: [Day 66] – “Paths” (1/2)
∼ Day 66 ∼
”So? How about it old bud? My path ain't that half bad.” - The Undaunted
Snapping out of my stupor at the sudden intrusion of his words, I shook my head, slightly animated.
”Hold your horses, I've got seven others I have to check.” - Me
I said, glancing skeptically at the rest of the figures.
”Tsk, fine...” - The Undaunted
He muttered, clearly unhappy with my lack of enthusiasm.
Not sparing the disgruntled projection of myself another glance, I continued on to the next figure. Standing before a version of me that was almost double my height and five times my body mass in muscles, I could only incredulously stare at his massive body.
This is vitality and magic, right? Not strength and vitality? I thought to myself, disbelievingly.
Apparently, the hulk before me took the stunned gaze I shot him for awe rather than confusion, so with a self-satisfied smirk, he began flexing his massive muscles in multiple show-off stances.
Staring even more dumbly now, I was about to speak, but I was interrupted by the hulk's deep and sonorous voice.
”I know - I know. You don't have to tell me. I really am just that impressive right?” - ???
He said self-satisfied.
The overly narcissistic tone in his words caused me to cringe visibly. I knew that I had become increasingly arrogant with each evolution I went through, and I had even started to worry that the path of evolutions I was walking down was affecting my mind at a fundamental level, however, even for me, this was a bit over the top.
Coughing awkwardly, I decided to just dodge the comment.
”-Ahem... uh, so? What path do you represent?” - Me
He seemed displeased that I didn't indulge in some praising and fawning of his inflated ego, but luckily he dropped it and stopped his posturing as he seemed almost compelled to answer my question.
”I represent the path of the Sanguine Juggernaut.” - Sanguine Juggernaut
As before with the Undaunted, he simply lifted a meaty finger and tapped it to my forehead without much further ado.
The serene landscape of the spirit realm suddenly disappeared once again, now replaced with a vast open expanse of lush rolling plains. Standing to my side was the hulking me. He was staring out into the distance, his fists and muscles flexing in bated anticipation of... something.
I wondered what could get such a monster riled up, but only a moment passed before my attention was all of a sudden drawn toward the same spot in the distance he was staring as a low rumble shook the earth beneath our feet.
A faint cacophony of roars and the shudder of the ground was the only precursor to the stupifying sight that entered my eyes.
In the distance, cresting the hills like a thundering tsunami, was a vast horde of beasts and monsters. From as small as a horse to as big as a two story house, the beasts came in every variant, shape, and size. Some flew, but most ran on the ground, creating a tidal wave of monsters trampling the landscape unrecognizable.
The sight was horrifying, and I had not the faintest clue of just how many beasts there were. It was just... endless. Glancing hesitantly to my side, I recognized the inundated bloodlust and battle-fervor burning deep in the eyes of hulk me. The sight of this endless beast horde seemed not to discourage him in the slightest, but instead, it invigorated his fighting spirit.
Crouching down like a tiger ready to pounce, his massive muscles bulged as a slight haze of sanguine mana started to radiated off him. With an earth-shattering leap that left a small crater behind him, he exploded into the air like a cannonball. Within a moment, he appeared above the horde, and like a meteor descending from the sky, body parts and blood flew everywhere as he utterly crushed any in the vicinity of impact.
It was almost like the whole horde had come to a standstill at that moment, like a beast king had arrived in their midst, afraid to disturb it, but it didn't last for more than a blink of the eye.
Carnage. Blood, viscera, and body parts started flying in every direction and take long arcs into the air.
Like a juggernaut, he simply ran each and every single beast down like an indomitable and unstoppable monster. Ripping them to pieces with his bare hands like they were paper and punching other collosal beasts that collapsed in on themselves as they could bear his power.
Being coated in blood and entrails, he laughed boisterously, his deep baritone voice causing widespread horror in the eyes of every single beast.
At first, I was still confused as to actually why he looked and fought exactly like some kind of 'strength' path, but after some pondering, I realized what he really was doing. He was indeed a vitality and magic power combination path. However, he still technically specialized in physical prowess.
With his overwhelming vitality, he had forged a body capable of withstanding just about anything. It was an indestructible vessel. With that, he actually flooded his entire body with his raw magic, something that would most likely utterly destroy oneself if they attempted it. The reason why you have a core to store your mana, and literal veins to help make it flow.
But with his unnatural constitution, and even though crimson mana was much more violent than ordinary mana, he could acquire physical power much greater than any normal warrior.
Magic wasn't rare or powerful for no reason, and literally flooding your body would definitely give it overwhelming power. Although I could see some drawbacks with this method as mana definitely wasn't infinite, it was a terrifying strategy and intrigued me deeply.
The scene of utter carnage slowly died down with the remains of the horde dispersing from terror, with the Sanguine Juggernaut standing in a sea of blood and gore. A ferocious and pleased smile on his lips. Appearing before the hulk again in the spirit realm, I looked into his eager eyes.
”Bwahahaha! Know you understand the might of the Sanguine Juggernaut! Good, good. So all you have to do is to pick me n-” - Sanguine Juggernaut
”Sheesh, why are you all so impatient, I haven't even gone through half of you yet.” - Me