Chapter 396: The Cutling

Chapter 396: The Cutling

What the heck is a cutling? Dallion asked.

Anger and viciousness pulsed from the creature as it glared back. In the realms Dallion had seen his fair share of scary creatures from blanks to guardians, even Star-spawn. This was on a completely different level. It wasnt as strong as a free chainling, but enough to tear Dallion to shreds the moment he let his guard down.

Side effects, Nil replied. You asked a few times why so few awakened have familiars. Before the dryads were sealed off, there were lots of them, and not just creatures locked in the realmsreal familiars that could go between realms to be along with their owners.

The cutling snarled, circling Dallion from a distance. Fangs and knife shards moved throughout its body as if they were swimming in tar.Th.ê most uptodate novels are published on n(0)velbj)n(.)co/m

Back when magic was abundant, there were seeds that one could imbue with magic, nurturing them into beings that best suited their owners, the old echo went on. When the Purple Moon withdrew its power from the world, both the means to grow new seeds and nurture them were gone. In the centuries that followed, the remaining seeds were stolen and gathered like any artifact, their value only increasing. Since few had the power to use them, owning seeds was reduced to a status symbol. Nobility did it to show off, until a mage found a rather different use. Since the seeds consumed the power lent to them by their owner, it was easy to trick them into consuming wounds, more specifically

Cuts, Dallion finished the sentence.

The realization of what he was facing made him feel sick to the point he had to struggle to keep himself from throwing up. The creature in front of him was a familiar? It wasnt the creatures nature that shocked Dallion; after all, two of his three familiars were linked to the Star, one being an outright crackling. Rather, it was the experience the cutling had been subjected to in order to come into being.

It wasnt meant to be a familiar, Nil said. Back in the day, the enchanted seeds were used for protection. The children of nobles carried them all the time. That way, any cut done to them was transferred to the seed. In a way, you could say that the creatures ate the cuts off people and even objects. However, that was only until they hatched. Once that happened, the creature had the ability to give what they had received for decades.

The cutling charged at Dallio, the ground beneath its feet splitting in long straight lines, as if a giant invisible blade had cut it open. Instantly, the whip blade reacted, slashing the creatures back. However, that seemed to make the cutling stronger.

Cuts dont harm it, Nil said, as Dallion leapt in the air, twisting in order to evade the charge. To defeat it you must clobber it with something blunt or use magic.

That was less than ideal. It also meant that Gleam had been strengthening the creature all along. Even so, the whip blade provided a much-needed distraction.

Gleam, focus on

I heard, the whip blade guardian replied. Would have been nice to know this before we started fighting.

You know now! Dallion did a few more backflips, combat splitting at each one.

It was quite the creature that Eury had chosen for his first solo hunt. Given that the gorgon was nowhere to be seen suggested that she believed that Dallion had what it took to defeat it. That was a positive notion, although Dallion had no illusions that it was going to be a difficult fight.

A creature that got stronger the more it was cut Normally Dallion would just go ahead and bash it with his shield, as he had done while fighting slimes. However, as he had seen, that was doing to result in a lot of damage to the shield. Not only did the cutling have the ability to slice through anything non-indestructible, but it only needed contact to do so.

At first glance, it didnt seem like there was any way Dallion could win or even wound the creature, and yet he had managed to do so. It seemed that Nox had retained his power to inflict damage to cracklings. It was possible the Lux would have some effect as well due to his healing ability, but the kaleidervisto wasnt a thing that could easily be used as a weapon.

Getting a sense of Dallions doubt, the cutling went for him again, this time leaping off the ground in his direction. Lines covered the ground in criss cross fashion. Faced with such a threat, and with no obvious means of defense, the logical thing to do was to move away. Dallion, however, did the opposite, leaping straight at the cutling. He knew all too well that when it came to movement he didnt stand a chance against such a creature. Maybe hed be able to avoid combat for an hour, maybe two, but ultimately, hed lose the stamina contest.

Darude, Dallion said, and put his plan in motion.

Splitting into fifteen instances, Dallion leapt back, then threw the kaleidervisto straight into the beasts maw. Of all the instances, he picked the one in which the throw was best, then quickly leapt back as far as he could.

Lux, now! he thought.

The massive jaws snapped, just as a ray of bright blue light shone through. A split second later. There was a loud pop. Had this been the realm, the creature would have burst into a cloud of particles that would have quickly faded away. Here, it merely dropped down like a sack of potatoes.

That was too easy, Dallion thought. His heart was beating like the drum as the adrenaline rushed through his veins. Every fiber of his bean screamed for him to move forward and bash the creatures head in with his shield. However, the calmer, more experienced part of him didnt let that happen.

Combining his music and zoology skills, Dallion looked at the creature. The emotions were gone, including the sticky void that surrounded it. The only thing he could sense was the energy coming from the kaleidervisto.

Cautiously, Dallion split into instances, then prodded the creature multiple times. Nothing happenedthe creature remained very much dead.

You okay there, Lux? He asked.

Hes more than okay, Gen said from Dallions realm. The little guy gained a level.

What? How did that happen? A new brand of euphoria mixed in with the adrenalin rush. Dallion was overjoyed to finally have another of his familiars gain a level, although he still didnt have the slightest idea why that had happened.

You tell me, Gen replied, his voice ringing with joy. I guess killing the cutling did the trick. Ill go through the library with Nil, see if there isnt anything on the topic.

Gleam, can you do the honors? Dallion asked as he stood above the massive corpse.

You want me to get Lux from the intestines of that thing, dont you? the whip blade asked.

Good job. Euryale appeared without warning, standing a foot away from Dallion. Definitely not the way I would have done it, though.

A win is a win? Dallion asked.

No. The gorgon shook her head. You won, but youre still relying too much on overpowered items. If you had won this in the normal way, youd have passed. If you had lost, it would have been clear you arent fated to be a hunter. Now she shrugged. Now youre still a big unknown.

All the euphoria that had gathered within Dallion fizzled away.

You didnt think Id win?

I was hoping youd win. Just not like this.