12 Forged in Ebon

I glanced up and said, "Ah, yeah. Fuck no." I cut agony up to full, but Baldag-Ruhl didn't even flinch. The insects piled up around me, and Baldag-Ruhl said, "They chew you up in seconds, little one. I have no qualms killing you. I have all that I need. I'll just use one of your friend's bodies instead of yours."

I smashed my hand into the stone beneath me and roared, "Fuck." I hit the floor again with three blows, cracking the rock. I roared out obscenities of all kinds.

Baldag-Ruhl shivered as he loomed over me. He said, "Kill that aura before I kill you." I shut off agony before Baldag-Ruhl continued, "Come, before I chew off your limbs and drag your torso with me."

With a heavy heart, I obeyed. Around the room, the tunnels flooded with water, but every drop funneled into whirlpools around the golem cores. The water swirled into tiny drops of mana that created small streams of the glowing mana. These eight streams flowed into the center of the room.

The bottom tier of the colosseum filled with the glowing liquid, and Baldag-Ruhl said, "Go there, towards the center."

I walked with a heavy head and slow pace. Like walking towards my own execution, my hands grew numb and my eyes heavy. My throat burned as I pushed down tears of frustration. I was going to become the tormented.

Baldag-Ruhl said, "You will first swim in this mana. That will form the blueprint of the shell."

I reached the pool of mana, terrified and desperate. I glanced around, looking for an escape. None met my eye. Baldag hissed, "Into the pool, little lamb."

A horde of insects formed a ball that shoved me into the pool. A cool, pleasing sensation wrapped around me from all sides. An earth shattering boom sounded above the liquid, and the mana pulled towards me.

The mana condensed, further and further until it changed into a solid around me. As if reading my very being, it tied itself to me. The mana took on a rougher shape, like a fire frozen in place. After a few seconds, it imprinted every single one of my cells into its every drop. Pulling off and above me, the mana condensed into a sphere.

Everything came back as the liquid no longer covered my eyes. All of the runes of the room glowed a fierce white. As I glanced up, the giant blue fire lighting the room had turned into a blinding white light of pure, resonating energy.

The ball hummed from the hidden power within it. Arcs of lightning streaked from it, the density of it expanding even further. Like a blue sun, the ball grew and grew until collapsing on itself. The implosion generated a tear in the space above me, exposing something...else. From it, a dark, seething energy seeped out.

As I gazed into the abyss, the abyss gazed back into me. Alive and wicked and vicious, Baldag-Ruhl pulled up his arms and weaved the leaking miasma into a single point. The slight flow turned into a torrent, like a flood of black. The crack in our dimension gushed withf energy, erupting with violence.

The blue sun of before was nothing in comparison with the new ball of black. This was absolute darkness, the embodiment of black. It absorbed light near it, draining the life from the air. I ran towards the edge of the pool and jumped, but a forcefield met me, bouncing me back.

Baldag-Ruhl said his words with the weight of lead, "Shush, child. Lay down and fall asleep. The spell has your soul carved into it. This new carapace will accept your soul as its own."

The ball of compressed black molded to his will. Sounding like rupturing steel, a sharp creaking beat against my ears. Blood poured from my eardrums as the armor took shape. I didn't have time to watch.

My mind raced for anything, any lifeline or way of getting out. None came to mind until I remembered the Corundum of Souls. I glanced at it from my menu screen,

Corundum of Souls(Legendary Unique) - 998,855/1,000,000 Mana Charged

My mana had been draining the entire time. Good goddamn do I need it right now. I reached for my mana, finding my pool empty and my current mana regen being pulled into it. I tried pulling more of my mana into it. The headache returned, but no extra mana regen was being added.

I don't have the goddamn hour this will take to fill up. I need it now. I kept jerking at the mana. I could feel no more coming from my efforts. The black armor was beginning to take shape.

Baldag-Ruhl said, "Now, allow me to mold your soul, little lamb. You will become this wolf's skin. You will become this wolf's flesh."

I redoubled my efforts of adding more mana. My hands started shaking. My knees wobbled. A vein in my nose burst as blood poured from it. My eyes grew bloodshot. I grit my teeth. I clenched my fists. Sweat poured down my face as I struggled, and struggled and struggled more still.

As the black miasma floated down towards me, veins in my eyes burst from sheer exertion. Veins appeared on my neck as my face turned red. The fingers of my fist dug into my hand, blood pouring from them as I groped for more mana. I found none.

Baldag-Ruhl continued, "Go ahead, child. Let me in. Let me into you."

Blood poured from my eyes and ears and nose. My teeth cracked then broke then shattered. I exerted with a will of steel, pounding against my mana. I demanded more. I commanded for more mana. I willed until the miasma hit me.

The black miasma was a violation, something wrong, something awful. It crawled inside the very fabric of my being, bending me. It met my soul like a wall of steel. Baldag-Ruhl drooled and frothed at the mouth, gurgling his words,

"You cannot stop it. Everything you are will become mine. You will lose yourself and become but a tool."

I surged with a frantic panic. Wild and howling, I fought against the force with more exertion than I imagined I could. I became a pillar of willpower, a monument of the human spirit. Baldag-Ruhl laughed at my resistance, but I kept struggling.

I calmed my panic and became resolve. I became discipline. I became determination. As the miasma from all sides crawled into me, I never gave in. I defied it. I chose to swallow this darkness. It did not swallow me.

Something snapped. A tiny dribble of mana poured from me, creating a raging torment throughout my body. The excruciation tore me apart. However, this was not the end. This was the beginning.

I poured more of this new mana into the Corundum of Souls. The pain intensified even further. Somehow, I continued through it. I converted my flesh and blood and bone into mana.

I struggled against the opposing forces, one of pain and one of submission. I wanted so badly to just give in, to let go. I didn't. I shocked myself with my sheer desperation.

And so, the Corundum of Souls was filled.

Corundum of Souls(Legendary Unique) - Holds a single, uncorrupted soul.

With the last of my strength I pulled the gem from my pocket. All the blue streaks from before were gone. The crystal was pitch black. The miasma poured out of me and into the defenseless soul. It molded under the current, melting under the unimaginable pressure of the miasma.

As the black energy disappeared from around me, Baldag-ruhl said,"W-what? What's going on? Why aren't you molding to my spell? How are you still here?"

The black suit of armor he created pulled towards me, drawn to the gem's power. Baldag-Ruhl pulled his hands, pus leaking from his broken carapace. He screamed, "No. No. No. I will not lose my creation. I cannot lose it. All that I am is this one piece of armor. This is my only way out of this forsaken hell. I will not lose it to a tiny, pathetic lamb."

Despite his efforts, the armor pulled towards the gem in my hand before collapsing into the sphere of energy in my palm. Baldag-Ruhl howled, "No. It's all gone. All those years. Everything amounted to nothing."

He wept as the gem stole the armor and energy. With a ripple through our space, the gem stabilized. With the ritual done, I fell onto the floor. The crack in dimensions snapped shut with a cleaving clash of sound. Heaving for air, the black gem sat an inch or two away from my face. I reached out a hand out of instinct.

Baldag-Ruhl shouted, "Stop. Do not touch that. It's mine."

He dashed over towards me, but right before he reached the crystal, my fingertip touched the floating gem. All went black. An explosive torrent of energy consumed me. The exhaustion of before was replaced with a devastating power, a primal rush.

The black formed around my entire frame, creating a set of armor. But it was more than that. This was an extension of my soul. It had always been there, I just hadn't known it. If I lost it now, it would feel like losing a piece of myself. In all meanings of the word, the armor around me felt perfect.

I clasped my fist. Strong. Stronger than stone or steel or this stupid fucker, Baldag-Ruhl. I radiated a white aura just standing there. A slit was open for my eyes, and from within glowed an ominous crimson. My armor flowed upward, to pointed spikes. I could feel the edges of it, as if it were my own skin.

Within the thickened forearm plates, extra weights were added. My arms became clubs. My fists became sledgehammers. This armor would be perfect for crushing bones. Especially Baldag-Ruhl's bones.

I glance up towards him. Baldag was planted into a wall of the colosseum. Cracks webbed outward from where he sunk six inches into the wall. When I touched the gem and gained the armor, it must have released a shockwave. It didn't really matter.

What did matter was my revenge. I cracked my neck before rolling my shoulders. I paced towards Baldag-Ruhl, fury in my steps and iron in my voice, "Are you ready Baldag? I'm going to turn your face to slush."

Baldag's eyes meet mine. He roars, "This changes nothing. I will still devour you, just as I devoured the others. I will start anew. I will learn of what you did to avoid the spell. This is not the first time this has happened."

I bang my fists together, a satisfying clunk echoing throughout the colosseum. I say, "Oh trust me. This will be the last."

Most of his insects nearby were dust from the shockwave earlier, but more poured in from every tunnel. Like a moving pool of black, they swarmed towards me. I clasped my hands into fists and activated agony.

Except, it wasn't agony. Three notifications appeared.

You have forgotten the skill agony. One perk point refunded.

Unique skill unlocked, oppression.

Oppression(Legendary Unique Skill) - Agony no longer damages the caster. Adds a flat % based health damage to agony's aura. Agony becomes a flat value, and cannot be enhanced further. The skill agony becomes the skill Oppression.

Oppression's Damage - (15% hp/min + 5000/min)

When I activated the aura this time, Baldag-Ruhl howled in pain. The percentage based health damage would eat away at him, no matter how large his health pool was now. Even the insects slowed down once under the influence of the skill.

Baldag-Ruhl kept trying, sending in his waves of insects. When they reached me, I stomped onto the ground, creating cracks on the ground beneath. The fissures grew underfoot, and the impact knocked the insects away.

I stampeded towards Baldag-Ruhl like an angry bull. He raised his arms over his face before I set myself into my fighting stance. During the process, the armor fit me like slipping on a glove. If I swung, no spikes or fancy pieces of armor would get in the way. The joints slid like a well oiled machine as I ran. They didn't offer any resistance. They didn't even make a sound.

The weight of the gauntlets let me sling much more of my body weight into the coming hook as well. The armor added extra weight in just the right places, letting me keep my balance better. everything was right about it.

With this added power, I reached Baldag like a coming storm. I kept my arms tight against my side when I neared him. I stomped my heel, crumbling stone beneath my feet. The force traveled through my hips, then my shoulders, and into my hand. I swung the hook overhead, pulling my punch towards me.

The compact, slicing swing slammed into Baldag's little insect arms. They cracked at the impact of my overhand right. A detonation of sound echoed like a car crash. The blow sunk him even further into the earthen wall. Pulling back, I lobbed another strike into his stomach, torquing my hips as I did so. Another bomb of sound ripped through the cave. Blood shot from his mandible mouth as my punch dug into his abdomen. His carapace cracked.

He lunged out with his clawed hand. Vibrant sparks flared across the air as his claws scraped across my armor, but they didn't pierce it. He swiped again, shooting off another series of sparks. I twisted my shoulders as I whipped another hook against his insect arms. The blow broke off bits of his insect shell.

He lunged out towards my face, but I leaned backwards. His mandibles clapped like two rods of steel above me. As he pulled his face back, I pulled back up with my arm dragging behind me. Inertia built into my fist before I curved another hit onto the arms protecting his face.

The limbs didn't hold this time. They broke like cornstalks before I clobbered his disgusting eyes. His insects reached me, doing tremendous damage as I unleashed a flood of crisp, biting hooks into his face. My hp dipped below half as the insects ate away at my armor and skin.

I ducked underneath his next swipe. As I pulled up, I uppercut into his stomach. My fist impaled him, sinking a foot deep into his chest. Baldag-Ruhl's mouth splurted blood like a fountain. He groaned before shouting, "Stop!"

I paused, as did his insects. He said, "I can help you." He gushed blood from his bizarre mouth. "You've already gained the armor. With my help, you can get even greater-"

I slammed my fist into his face. I said, "I needed to do that. Alright, go ahead."

He rose up his broken hands again and said, "You-you can get even greater gifts. This Schema, you will be its enemy. I will give you more help than you can know."

I pursed my lips. Honestly, I didn't trust my ability to outsmart Baldag-Ruhl. He was unbelievably meticulous. I doubt he'd mess up again. In this instance, I took the simplest, most assured path.

I crushed his face, over and over and over. He fell apart in my hands as I pummeled him into a thin gelatin. Baldag was someone who used people. I would not become his tool. Not again.

I kept beating his broken body long after he was dead. I pushed the notifications aside after his death. Nothing solid was left of him. My fists were a blender for his corpse. I glanced at my hp. A little over 1/10th of my health still left after the fight. Not bad.

I heaved for breath once I finished. The insects had died after he had. I was in a pile of their carcasses. The bats would feast tonight, that's for sure. After shaking off some bugs, I walked out of the colosseum like I was walking through snow. The bugs had piled up at least two feet high.

I climbed up the staggered steps until I was standing on the outer edge of the colosseum. I laid down, grunting as I collapsed onto the etched stone. I passed out before I hit the ground.

I had done it. I had killed Baldag-Ruhl, of Many.