by Virlyce
“…Once again, how does this have to do with slaughter? I think I’m just going to keep on killing things.” That’s right. The easiest way to get stronger is to follow the path, isn’t that what Durandal had told me? “I won’t sleep or eat, and I’ll bathe in the blood of the things I kill. Isn’t that the simplest way to follow the Path of Slaughter? I think it is.”
“I’m glad my advice has been useful to you.”
…I was already doing that before I met him though. But I guess I’ll let him feel some satisfaction. It’s no good to have unsatisfied socks. What if he decides to tickle me in the middle of a fight? “Yes, it was useful advice.” Not really. “Thanks.”
“Does that mean you’ll let me materialize my spirit form?”
“Who’s Lan?”
“Lan Ravenwood is the sixth prince of the Ravenwood Empire. He was my previous owner and—”
“Nope. No materialization for you, Puppers.”
“What!? And stop calling me that! My name is Gae Bulg, the spear of Cuchulainn! Hundreds have been defeated beneath my spearhead, and—”
“And you’re a sock now. Socks shouldn’t be this noisy.” Oh, nice. There’s another big lizard over there. Unrelenting Path of Slaughter, go! Puppers’ protests drowned out into nothing as my senses faded away, leaving me with my vision of white and red. Now that I think about it, the Path of Slaughter no longer stopped me when I strayed off the path. Couldn’t I really do everything under these circumstances? Maybe it’ll be a little difficult to adjust to if my hearing and smell are gone, but I should be fine, right?
After making quick—read long—work out of the lizard while I was dismantling its body and removing its most valuable part, Puppers’ growling voice reached my ears. “Let me spar with you at least. The amount of time it takes to purify the beast core you absorbed will take too long otherwise.”
“You just want to materialize, don’t you?” I’m not going to keep him in my socks forever. Just until he learns how to behave. “Who’s Lan?”
“Lan Ravenwood is the sixth—”
“Stop right there! No materialization, Puppers.”
“Why!?”
“Out of curiosity, do you know how to cook?” Is it just Durandal that’s terrible at everything save for swordsmanship? Well, no, Durandal’s a good spearman too. I wonder if Puppers would be a good swordsman.
“Cook? A weapon spirit has no need to learn how to cook. There’s—”
“I think it may be a long while before you materialize, Puppers.” But that bit about sparring was probably true. I remember I could consume three cores a day while fighting against Durandal. It’s only a single core when I hunt beasts. “Last chance. Do you know who Lan Ravenwood is?”
A breeze passed through my toes. “Lan Ravenwood? Who’s that?”
“Oh, not bad. What’s your name?”
“Ms. Fluffytail, please. Don’t make me say it.”
“What was that? You don’t want to materialize today, is that what I heard?”
“Please.”
“Okay, I guess that’s that then.” Well, I don’t expect to break him in so soon. It’s exactly like raising a dog! I’ve seen some people in the army raise them. There’s lots of punishments for disobeying and plenty of treats for correctly following a command. Too bad for Puppers, I don’t have any treats available. Maybe I shouldn’t be so mean to him.
“My name….” Another breeze passed through my toes. “My name is Pu, Pu, …Puppers.”
“Nice to meet you, Puppers! My name is Lucia Fluffytail.” This lizard’s heart is green too. How odd. “What kind of spirit are you, Puppers?”
“I’m … a sock spirit.” My socks felt damp. Was Puppers crying? Oh, no, that was just the blood from the lizard soaking through my shoes.
“Good job, Puppers. Who’s a good boy?” And with that, I let the dejected-looking wolfkin materialize in front of me.
***
Sparring with Puppers is nothing like sparring with Durandal. For one, Puppers lives up to his name and fights more like a beast than a human. What kind of human would fight by wielding a spear in their mouth? His claws are super sharp too, and his tail attacks like a whip. It’s very annoying because he can strike with the spear or grapple me when I get too close. At least I’m learning a lot! I’ve started using my own tail to fight. Despite how fluffy it looks, it’s actually really solid at its core. Don’t judge.
I tried learning how to use a shield—lizard bones and skins crafted into a buckler—but every time I activated the Path of Slaughter, my body would throw it away, so I gave up on it. Who says you can’t slaughter someone with a shield? It’d make a perfectly good blunt weapon. Maybe the path knows I want to use it for defense. Why is everything in my life so intent on making me a brute?
Recently, the bones I’ve been engraving have gotten better effects. The bones of strength heal faster, and the bones of focus last at least three times longer. I’m not sure if it has anything to do with becoming a spirit warrior, or if it’s because the quality of the bones are better. Well, it could be both. And—
Puppers froze mid-attack and turned his head. Why did he stop? He pointed, and I turned my head as well while lowering my sword. A cluster of rare monkey-like spirit beasts were gathered at the edge of the clearing Puppers and I had created during our spars. Odd. Usually spirit beasts attack without warning, why were they just standing there? Well, time to get stronger and continue following the Unrelenting Path of Slaughter. I charged at the monkeys and fired off a qi blade. I stopped shouting out my skill attacks since I can’t hear them while I’m under the path’s influence.
The qi blade flew through the air like a giant pink sheet, and it crashed into the silhouette of one of the monkeys. But instead of falling apart like monkeys usually did, a green film appeared on its orange body and blocked the qi blade. Whoa, what the heck was that? Qi was represented as pink in the Path of Slaughter. Red was the recommended path to take. Orange was living creatures, and black was blood. But I’ve never seen green before. Magic, maybe?
Well, I don’t believe I’d lose! Breaking Blade! I charged forwards and swung mini-DalDal straight down from over my head. The green film appeared again, covering the monkey’s body, but it easily cracked and crumbled apart underneath my pink attack. The monkey was bisected and black liquid splashed onto me. I saw the other monkeys panicking and turned my head towards them. Lots of green was flowing into the surroundings, and a green flame flew towards me. I dodged it while Puppers launched his own attack, stabbing towards the monkey who shot the flames. Nice one, Puppers!
The other monkeys turned to flee when the flame-spewing monkey collapsed. I launched qi blades at their heads while pursuing them. Come back, beast cores! Green films covered their heads, but the force from the qi knocked them over, and I made quick work out of them with three Breaking Blades. I looked around to see if there were any more rare monkeys, but there weren’t any, so I disabled the Path of Slaughter. Hey, these rare monkeys wore clothes too.
“Ms. Fluffytail.” Puppers walked up to me from behind, dragging along the two monkeys we had killed first. Blood covered his muzzle and spear. “I’ve always been a righteous spear—”
“Sock.”
“…Righteous sock. And I don’t approve of killing people for no reason. It rubs me the wrong way. If this is how you’re going to continue to behave, I think it’d be better for us to part ways.”
“Killing people for no reason?” Hmm? “I don’t do that.”
Puppers stared at me.
What were those judgmental eyes? Only Durandal can look at me like that. Bad Puppers. Bad. “What?”
Puppers pointed at the monkey corpses on the ground.
“And?”
“You said you don’t kill people for no reason.”
“Right. I don’t.” Do I have to store him back into my socks? He came so far though. Well, a little more reeducation wouldn’t hurt.
“Then tell me why you killed these
men.”
“What men? They’re spirit beasts.” Those are some really sneaky beasts if they could even fool Puppers. They’re like advanced scavenger crows. How scary.
“Is that what you really believe?”
“Of course! I’m not a murderer.”
“…”
I’m going to smack him if he keeps staring at me like that. “What do you want?” It looks like I can’t activate the Path of Slaughter because Puppers wants to converse. Oh wells. It’s not like I need the path to dismantle these beast corpses.
“Delusional.”
“You’re delusional! These beasts would’ve eaten us alive if I didn’t take care of them, sheesh.”
“Beasts can’t use magic!” Puppers practically roared at me, and I flinched. Maybe I should’ve activated my path.
“Then we must’ve found a very rare variant of monkeys. Do you think the mercenary guild will reward me for bringing them information about a new species?” I heard they do that. Every bit of information helps mercenaries because the unprepared die first! Paying for information is like paying for a higher chance of survival. I wonder how much I’d earn.
“They were magicians! Magicians of the empire! Humans!”
“Puppers. Do you want to go back inside my socks?” Oh, lucky! I finally got a beast core from one of the monkeys! “This beast core’s pretty big. Wow.”
“Humans don’t have beast cores! That’s—wait, what?” Puppers snatched the bloody trophy out of my hands and stared at it. “This…, this is actually a beast core…? W-were they not humans?”
“I told you they were beasts! Give that back!” Would I finally gain some mana from absorbing this? Durandal said it was hopeless for me to ever learn any magic, but according to Puppers, beasts couldn’t learn magic either. So if I, a manaless person, consumed the beast core of a rare magical spirit beast, maybe I’d gain the ability to cast spells. I have to try it!
That night, I experienced the worst nausea of my life, and I learned a manaless person like me will always stay manaless. The stupid core didn’t even raise my strength or speed either. What a waste.
***
Durandal’s raised a monster—an absolute monster. If Lucia Fluffytail was around 80 years ago, there’s no doubt in my mind she’d be on par with my owner, Cuchulainn, or even the Godking himself. Perhaps she could only reach this far due to finding Durandal, but I can’t deny her strength. With the help of qi, Cuchulainn and the Godking could maybe carry 5,000 pounds at the peak of their strength. Lucia can swing a ten-ton sword around as if she were waving paper. How is that even fair? She could disable someone by leaving her sword on top of them, possibly even killing them.
“An opening!”
Durandal’s weapon body swung down from above, crashing against my spear which was actually a really stiff sock. As if a mountain had fallen on me, my legs were forced into the ground and my arms creaked as if they would break. Her strength is absolutely unreasonable! Being her spirit is nothing like being Lan’s. Sparring with her may actually lead to a temporary death if I’m not careful. It’s even more dangerous than living beside a prince who’s a target for assassinations.
“Unrelenting Path of Slaughter: Breaking Blade!”
The world froze as Durandal’s weapon body emitted a thick, red glow. The light radiating off the blade was heavy, nearly tangible. It engulfed me, and my vision became white. Red lines appeared on my body, revealing all the flaws in my stance. Though I could see them, there was nothing I could do to stop Lucia’s blade from descending, carving me apart while following those lines. A sigh escaped from my lips as I fell to pieces before dispersing into a mist that was absorbed by Lucia’s socks—my new home.
Damn. I lost again. It’s the fourth fight Lucia won in a row, and I’ll be out of commission for at least a week now. What kind of person would kill their armor spirit in the name of training? But I suppose that’s what Lucia’s path does. When she activates her path, there are only two outcomes: her opponent dies, or she becomes disabled. The path can only be disabled when she kills something. At first, I didn’t understand how someone could obtain a path like that, but after seeing her train for the past few months, I understand: she doesn’t eat, she doesn’t sleep, all she does is kill. She used to dismantle the corpses of the beasts she killed, but I’ve been given that duty instead. Surprisingly, my capabilities to do things other than fighting have increased after turning into a sock spirit.
And once I hand over the bones, she uses her qi to carve some engravings to convert them into consumables that she uses right away. I think she’s become dependent on them, but I can’t deny their effects. Though it costs her qi to convert a bone, once the bone is consumed, she gets back an even greater amount of qi than what she had spent. Her strength, speed, and concentration are increased which allows her to function as a machine purely built for killing.
Speaking of killing. I still can’t believe those people who I thought were magicians were actually spirit beasts. I don’t believe they’re a variant of monkey, but it’s possible for them to be a slime of sorts that absorb the characteristics of the things they eat. However, even if some of them are really spirit beasts, there’s no doubt in my mind that some of the people Lucia have killed were actually human. But that’s the frightening part—with every person she kills, her Unrelenting Path of Slaughter advances by leaps and bounds. She’s become a mid-ranked spirit warrior in a few months. It took Lan a year and a half to advance to mid-ranked from low-ranked.
Despite Lucia Fluffytail’s prowess, she does have quite a few shortcomings. For one, she’s pretty stupid; maybe it’d be nicer of me to say she has a single-track mind. It’s sad, really. Once she thinks something is true, her mind doesn’t change about it despite evidence to the contrary. Or it isn’t stupidity, and she’s just delusional. Either way, she’s not exactly your normal person. But I can’t look down on her for it. She’s been alone, hunting spirit beasts in a jungle without sleeping or eating for over a year. Before that, I’m pretty sure she was living as a slave. Only a slave beastkin would’ve been allowed to accompany Bryant to the Godking’s tomb.
“Puppers!”
Has a week passed already? When a weapon or armor spirit dies, our sense of time is distorted. A few brief moments for us can be weeks or months to our owners. Also, I really dislike having to respond to the name Puppers. I was a renowned spear, Gae Bulg. Criminals would tremble when they heard my name. Now—
“I know you’re awake, Puppers! Dismantle these things!”
Is that a tree-devouring centipede? She killed something like that? …Does it even have bones?
“This too! And this! Also do these things! Why did you have to die again? Do you know how much slower my hunting became without my little helper!?”
Little helper…. I’m not sure if Puppers is better or worse. But I’ll begin because materializing outside is infinitely better than living inside of her socks. I still can’t believe I’ve fallen from a mighty spear spirit to a sock spirit. But I guess I’m lucky to be alive. Lucia completely diced apart my weapon body, but she just missed my core. If her blade had struck even a millimeter closer when she was breaking apart the spear…, I probably wouldn’t be here right now. It’s a shame about Lan. Though Lucia won’t admit it, I know she killed him. After all, that’s what her Path of Slaughter does—it kills. If Lan weren’t so paranoid, maybe he’d have been willing to talk with Lucia rather than fighting, but that was his one shortcoming. Perhaps I’m doomed to have mentally unstable owners. Even Cuchulainn had something wrong with him that compelled him to exterminate evil.
11
Aren’t I strong enough for Durandal to wake up yet? I remember him telling me the Godking was at the peak of high-ranked spirit warrior, and according to Puppers, I’ve just passed the boundary from mid-ranked spirit warrior to high-ranked. Aren’t I almost as strong as the Godking? In terms of qi at least. The Godking could use magic too, which automatically makes him stronger than me,
but that was quick! It’s only been … two days since Durandal was poisoned. Totally. A day only passes when I fall asleep.
It’s so lonely when Puppers dies and reenters my socks. Ever since the day I became a high-ranked spirit warrior, Puppers hadn’t won a single fight against me. He used the excuse that he couldn’t show his full potential as a mere sock spirit, but I think he’s just a sore loser. After reaching high-ranked spirit warrior, I’ve gained the ability to…, I’m not sure actually. Puppers said I can shrug off normal wounds, and fatal wounds become non-fatal. I’ll only die if my head is cut off, but I’m not willing to test that! If someone told you you’d be fine if he cut your heart out, would you believe him and cut your heart out to test it? Hell no!
Other than that, my qi has become visible. It’s red and viscous and kind of sticky like blood. Puppers says I’ll be able to figure out what it can do if I play around with it, but I don’t have time for that! If I have spare time, it’ll be spent on sparring Puppers, carving bones, or hunting beasts. I also feel like I control the Path of Slaughter more than it controls me now. I can turn it on and off at will, but it’s a bit painful. Maybe when I reach the peak, I’ll be able to control it completely, but for now, I’ll just make do. Hey, what’s this strange green pattern on the ground?
Green means mana, right…? Maybe I should throw Puppers on top of it to check.
“Puppers?”
…Darn. I forgot he was dead at the moment. Let’s turn off the Path of Slaughter and poke around. Wow. There’s a massive chunk of meat sitting in the center of a glade. This isn’t suspicious at all. …But it does smell really tempting. How long has it been since I’ve last eaten? I’m not sure if I even have a stomach anymore. Why couldn’t bones of strength be tasty? Then I wouldn’t be so tempted. Maybe I should poke it…, no! Back to hunting!
Leaving the obvious trap behind, I reactivated my Path of Slaughter. I’ve finally absorbed enough cores of all the beasts around that none of them give me any more improvements. I have dozens of really high-ranked beast cores sitting around my interspacial ring. I should find a shop and sell them. Disregarding them, I’m pretty sure I reached the deepest point of the southern pass. Running north leads to weaker beasts as expected, but when I head south, the beasts become weaker again. Heading east and west bring about the same result. Clearly, I’m in the most dangerous spot, which isn’t really dangerous for me anymore. The deadliest creature I killed was a black and red lion with three heads. I almost died 73 times during that fight, but through perseverance and hard work, I managed to kill it.
