102 Targets

Ed groggily woke up, his jaw aching in pain. Slowly, his eyes widened in shock. John and his squad were facing off against a giant lava monster of humanoid shape. They encircled it in pairs of two. Each time the monster became too much to handle for one pair, another pair would stab and distract it. Each stab sent small chunks of rocky lava into the air. They were cooperating perfectly to slowly whittle it down in size. Whenever the monster attacked, they deflected the blows with their large round shields.

Looking down, Ed saw that he was biting into the manullium chain. He had managed to get a small part of it in his mouth, and he applied enough pressure to crack his teeth. Blood dripped down the sides of his mouth. However, these issues were overshadowed by the rest of his body. His arm had completely recovered, and his hands and feet had once again turned into claws. Even more shockingly, his teeth had turned sharp and needle-like, and he had grown a menacing crocodile tail. He could hardly be described as human anymore. Faced with such changes, his heart rate sped up, and his breathing deepened. His vision slowly became tinted in red as he lost himself to the panic.

Bam! Ed's tail slammed down onto the ground and propelled him forward. His eyes were completely red with rage, lacking even the slightest hint of sanity. He dived right into the elite squad's encirclement and charged at the monster. He slammed his head into the monster's knee, causing little to no damage in the process. The monster grunted as it bent down and picked up Ed with its large grubby hand. Then the monster tossed Ed towards a large lava lake behind it.

Splash! Lava jumped into the air as Ed fell into the lake. In his lack of sanity, he breathed the lava in and swallowed some of it down. He struggled fiercely against the chains that bound him, using his tail to forcefully swim upwards, but he was having little success. His eyes started to grow dark as the lava scalded his insides. Suddenly, the manullium chains disintegrated away, merging into the lava lake. Ed rapidly rose to the surface as his webbed claws pushed him forward. He quickly crawled atop the riverbank, coughing up chunks of purple lava as he went. His internals had suffered heavy damage, but the crocodile mutant flesh was already beginning to heal it. He quickly grew hungry as a result.

No longer fettered by chains, he charged into battle once again. John saw Ed's lack of bindings and quickly ordered the squad to fall back. He had no desire to be caught in the battle between two insane monsters. Ed's tail slammed against the ground as he leaped into the air, landing on the monster's arm. His needle-like teeth bit through the outer layer of lava and into the mutant's flesh, which was hard like rock. This didn't seem to bother him as he chewed the meal and swallowed, his hunger growing even greater as he ate.

The monster roared in fury as it swatted at the fly-like existence on his arms. Ed quickly scurried up the arm towards the shoulder and avoided the hit, causing the monster to attack its own wound. It groaned in pain as it took several steps back.

Ed madly swiped down towards the monster's neck, gouging through its flesh. Each time he did so, the monster tried swatting him away. But he always managed to dodge by moving around the body or jumping off entirely. Then he'd soon rejoin the fight when he jumped back on. Sensing its imminent defeat, the monster began backing off towards the lava lake. Unfortunately, it was too late. Ed did a forward somersault through the air and slammed his tail into the partially destroyed neck, sending the monster's severed head flying into the air. It landed on the ground with a loud thud. Its purple blood formed a small pool of lava around both its body and head.

Ed's claws moved rapidly as he shoveled the monster's flesh into his mouth, not even bothering to chew before swallowing. It was only a few minutes before the massive monster vanished entirely into his stomach. The burning lava-like flesh did more harm than good to his body, but he enjoyed the meal nonetheless. He turned around and faced the elite squad, glancing back-and-forth between them and the monster's severed head. It didn't take long to make his decision. He licked his lips as he shot towards the group of espers.

"Stand your ground!" John yelled as he stepped forward. He held his shield high, eyeing the croc cautiously. "Are you still in there, Ed?!"

Ed growled as he scurried forward on all four limbs. The spear came straight for his head, but he easily pushed against the ground with his tail to dodge to the side, targeting the man directly to the left of John. Ed dived forward as the man lifted his shield to block. Bang! The man stumbled back several steps. His partner immediately stepped forward with his shield, crouching into a defensive position. His other squad mates quickly encircled Ed. It was a repeat of their prior strategy they had used against the lava monster, except it was against a weaker and nimbler opponent.

The battle waged on for several hours, Ed growing continuously stronger for the first half of it. However, injuries slowly accumulated on his body as he became covered in shallow stab wounds and large bruises. His opponents bled from their many claw marks. One man even had a broken leg, causing him to become a handicap to his squad mates. Both groups breathed heavily from exhaustion, clearly on the verge of collapse. They eyed each other wearily.

John had a grim face. "He's much stronger than Boss said he'd be. I've never seen someone gain so much strength so quickly. It usually takes a lot longer for newbies to adapt to the purple smoke and monster flesh. Hell, it took me nearly two years before I could start strengthening my body with it."

"Captain, are you sure it isn't just caused by his transformation?" One of his men questioned.

John frowned. "It shouldn't be. He's transformed a bit more than before, sure, but we've already seen him fight within the encampment. He wasn't anything particularly special the last time he transformed. Besides, I could feel the difference as we fought him. His body is definitely absorbing the flesh of that purple mutant properly."

As the fight calmed down, Ed slowly returned to sanity. The red glow in his eyes faded away to be replaced by his usual calmness. "Ugh." He groaned as he rubbed his throbbing head. "What happened?" He questioned as he looked around his surroundings.

"You don't remember?!" John asked incredulously.

"It's vague, like a dream." He replied while staring into space. "I was just a tiny croc, facing a giant monster several times my size. Then I faced off against a pack of rhinos. Tough bastards."

"Pfft." The man with the broken leg had his arm wrapped around his partner's shoulder, leaning on him for support. He broke into a fit of laughter as he listened to Ed's tale. "He's bloody fucking crazy! We had a life and death battle for hours, and he thought he was fighting a pack of wild rhinos? Does he think we're in Africa of the old days?"

"Enough." John frowned as he waved his hand, wishing not to press the issue. The last thing he needed was a 2nd round of fighting to begin. He examined the wounds covering everybody's bodies and sighed. "We're returning to base. We can hardly keep going like this."

"Returning?" Ed frowned while crossing his arms. "They'll castrate me or kill me as soon as I get back. Forget it."

"This isn't up for debate." John countered. "Besides, it's only a matter of time before you transform again. We can't risk it now that we know how ridiculous your strength gets. Only the boss would be able to properly handle you."

Ed's frown deepened as he internally debated on what to do. Quickly making up his mind, he held his hand out. "Hand over the map and you can go. I can't risk returning, so I'll survive in the maze."

"Why should we hand over our map?!" One of the men countered. However, John quickly rose an arm to silence the man.

"Here." John said as he tossed over a rolled-up leather parchment. "This covers the planned route we had planned on taking. We have plenty of other routes, so we'll be avoiding this one for the indefinite future. Good luck." He turned and waved his arm down, indicating for his men to leave.

"Wait." Ed called behind them. He walked towards the lava mutant's severed head and fished around in its skull, quickly locating a mana-core within it. 'Good. If that mutant was as strong as in my dream, then it'd be a crime for it not to have a mana-core. Still, I wonder why it didn't use any long-range attacks. Do purple mana-core mutants lack the ability?' He shook his head, exiting his thoughts. He tossed the purple mana-core forward. "Sorry for being cheap. This is all the payment I can give right now."

John caught the mana-core. "Thanks, but we don't need it. Mr. Long informed us to let you keep any cores earned on this expedition." He tossed it back. "A word of caution, don't go eating the purple mana-cores. Many espers have gone mad down here, and many have died from the foolishness of trying such things."

"Thanks." He nodded. "Tell Mr. Long that I'll visit him within the next six months. If I don't, then he can forget about our prior agreement."

"Got it." John waved as he and his men left.

...

Ed stood alone within the empty cavern. Slowly, the scales covering his body vanished, as did the claws, needle-like teeth, and tail. 'I wonder where it all goes?' He wondered as he examined his body. He was less in tune with his body than usual thanks to the blockage of his mana. However, he still had some ideas in mind. 'It's unlikely created from mana due to my current environment. Could it be like a blueprint? My cells divide, creating the necessary features according to the blueprint? If yes, then am I going to keep transforming even further?' His worries continued to grow. Each transformation was becoming harder to revert. It was also taking longer to regain his sanity. How much longer before he turned into a mindless beast forever?

'I need to find some test subjects.' His eyes sharpened as he glanced down at the purple mana-core in his hand. 'Since this is a secret route that John's squad uses, then I'm unlikely to run into any good subjects down here. I need to return closer to the entrance and keep an eye open for good targets.' With those thoughts in mind, he headed back towards the entrance to the maze.

...

Ed camped out near the beginning of the maze. He occasionally switched tunnels, keeping his eyes open for any targets. He had found a few already, but unfortunately, they were in small elite groups comparable to John's squad. Most squads of 10 men or less were either elites or fools, and it was unlikely Ed would be lucky enough to run into another group of fools like he had the first time he entered the maze. It wasn't uncommon for squads as big as 50 men to enter together.

It took nearly a day before he finally spotted his target. A group of 30 men entered together. Most of them seemed to be average in strength, with only a few elites heading the group. Such a squad was bound to lose a few members during their journey.

'Good.' Ed grinned as he followed behind them. Unconsciously, his movements had become more reptilian-like. He clung to walls and hid in shadows, making not a single sound as he followed them through the winding tunnels. He was watching for an opportunity. If he could split their forces during a mutant attack, then he might be able to pick up a straggler or two that left the group. He could also use their supplies, as he had already burned through the small amount of rations within his bag.

Unfortunately for Ed, the opportunity did not come as soon as he hoped. He stalked them for nearly two days as they traveled deeper and deeper inside. He grew increasingly dizzy as he forced himself to stay awake, knowing that he was just one or two more unconscious transformations from permanent insanity.

The 30-man squad soon stopped to setup camp for the third time. A large man amongst them was their leader. He stepped away from the group, a hooded figure following behind him. "You can come out now." He said towards Ed's direction.

'What?!' Ed's eyes widened in shock. 'Is he bluffing? He's got to be bluffing, right?'

"Are you coming out? Or are you just a coward?" The man taunted. "I figured the mighty Forge, hero of Georgia and rebellion leader of Florida, would have more guts than that."

'He knows.' Ed frowned as he stepped out of the shadows of a nearby tunnel. "How did you know?" He questioned.

"We lured you on purpose." A high-pitched voice responded from the hooded figure. She lowered the hood, revealing herself as Samantha, the ponytail pilot. "The Captain really is unfair, making me clean up my mess alone like this. I read about your little hobbies. The information wasn't detailed, but Nexus had some ideas of what you've done based on the information you sold them. I knew it was only a matter of time before you went hunting for test subjects."

"Is that so." Ed nodded, a bored look on his face. "So, you gathered a squad of mediocre prisoners to lure me? Don't you think you're overestimating yourself a bit?"

"Humph!" She snorted. "Do you think I came unprepared? Besides, I'm stronger than you to begin with and you're outnumbered. I'll wipe out the humiliation you've inflicted upon me."

"Ah." Ed sighed as he tilted his neck and rubbed it, cracking it in the process. "You have everything you could desire in the world up above, but you came down here to dance with the devil instead." He grinned. "Well, I don't mind. You're saving me some time from hunting you down after I escape."