Fighting to keep conscious, Cynrik endured the searing pain caused by his own BlackFire, unaware of what was transpiring around him, and back in the training room.
With the flames eating away at his skin, the vaporous multicolored Poison rose from his muscle tissue and was broken down by the powerful fusion of Dark and Fire Affinity.
Meanwhile, Brance had upgraded his [Advanced Healing] as far as possible and was now only a hair away from it reaching Tier-3 and further Evolving into [Major Healing]. Although Brance now generated a static 3000 worth of HP per skill use, Cynrik’s damage counter had increased to over 2400 per minute on the downside. This back and forth, over time, ended up dwindling his HP to almost nothing after having it recover to an extent.
Time progressed slowly, and just when Cynrik was about to call it quits and roll over to welcome death, Tobs chimed in, alerting him that the BlackFire had completely detoxified his body, and he could stop.
Not needing further encouragement, Cynrik released his control over his manifestation and collapsed onto his back, panting heavily with his body twitching randomly and uncontrollably.
“Huff, never, huff, a fucking gain.” Cynrik spat angrily to no one in particular.
“Tobs, huff, status report on the fucking snake.”
-There are no signs of activity from Æsir Spirit Jörmungandr; he appears to have lost consciousness and is dangerously close to death.-
She replied, back to her old monotone and expressionless self.
“Good, fuck that asshole, that Omnipoison of his is no fucking joke. If it weren’t for the combination of penetrating power and corrosion of my BlackFire, I would have been utterly screwed. Even so, if I never have to experience that level of pain again in my life, I will be more than pleased.” Cynrik said as he raised a shaky hand into the air and allocated 80 points into his VIT to speed up his healing factor and increase his HP.
Cynrik felt energized and spry after increasing his VIT by 80 points; paired with the constant and consistent healing provided by Brance, he was healed back up to 100% within a short amount of time.
However, although his HP had recovered to 11,200/11,200, the broken bones and muscle damage had yet to heal and were still only in the initial stages of refusing and fixing the injuries. Still, after another short 15-minute break, he felt good enough to stand up, albeit he was as shaky as a newborn giraffe.
“Point me in the direction of my Kodachi’s Tobs; it is time to end this farce; I need a fucking nap, and hell, probably a bath too. Luckily my BlackFire cleansed all the ick off my body…er…soul.” So Cynrik said, waiting for Tobs to reappear and point him the right way to pick up his beloved swords.
Seconds later, Tobs, in her avatar form, materialized beside Cynrik and extended her arm to the left of where Cynrik was standing, and nodded curtly.
“Thanks, oh right, how’s Brance holding up? I’m sure cycle healing wasn’t fun, and he’s exhausted now.” He asked, taking weak steps in the direction she was pointing. Each movement caused all his bones and joints to pop like bubble wrap, but he felt the pain and resistance he was feeling were manageable.
-Host Brance has fallen unconscious due to Mana sickness, and Gabriella Sanford is giving him a…what is it called…lap pillow?-
Tobs tilted her head to the side as she followed alongside Cynrik and looked to him for an answer.
“Uh, if she has his head lying in her lap, it’s a lap pillow.” Cynrik nearly stumbled and fell when he heard her but quickly collected himself and answered her strange question.
-Yes, Gabriella Sanford is giving Host Brance a lap pillow, leaving the cleaning and taking care of you to Selene…I do advise you to hurry up and complete the quest as soon as possible, though…she appears to have grown quite fond of your abdominal muscles and is rubbing them while mumbling about how hot they are.-
“PFFT, FUCK, TELL HER TO CUT IT OUT; HOW DARE THAT WENCH TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ME WHEN I AM DEFENSELESS!” Cursing loudly, Cynrik picked up his pace from a slow stumbly walk to a brisk jog, searching for his swords.
Confused for a minute, Tobs parroted his response to Selene, who froze in panic before eventually covering up the half-naked Cynrik with a blanket retrieved from the boy’s bedroom.
It didn’t take long for Cynrik to traverse the distance between himself and Jörmungandr. When the Serpent came into view, Cynrik had already collected both Kodachi and put them in their normal positions, the longer one on his right hip and the shorter one over his right shoulder.
“Oi, Jormie, still alive?” The closer Cynrik got to the downed opponent, the more cautious he became, and once he was within 10 meters of Jörmungandr, Cynrik called out to him only to be met by silence.
“What’s wrong, you got a belly ache? Did you not get enough water or something? Sheesh, Jormie, you know hydration is the key to everything; you really can’t let yourself get screwed over and dehydrated.”
This time, his taunts seemed to reach the dismembered and mutilated Jörmungandr, whose single eye fluttered open angrily and glared daggers at Cynrik, who was calmly walking with his hands behind his head.
“Grugle tsss gurgle ugh.” Although Jörmungandr was trying to speak, all he could produce were slurred and wet noises as his jaw had been blown apart before being scorched to cinders.
“Tsk, Jormie, I can’t understand you; Ima need you to speak in proper English hell, Norse works too, but you need to form vowels and words, my guy.” Cynrik taunted, knowing damn well all he was accomplishing was to piss off the Serpent further.
“Gurggg, wassht, ssss COUGH COUGH!” Having difficulty breathing and speaking simultaneously, Jörmungandr was eventually overcome by coughing. He expelled several types of dark fluid from his mouth as Cynrik approached and stood above the Serpent’s sorry state, who once long ago stood at the top of the food chain.
“Tsk, a tragic end for a being who once was lauded as the one who could devour the entire world. If you were like Ragnar, I would have interrogated you for further information about the Strife, but seeing as you can no longer speak, let alone even fight back, I think we should finish this shit, not with a bang but with a whimper.” A malicious glint flashed through Cynrik’s eyes as he drew the Kodachi from his hip and, in one fluid motion, beheaded the helpless being lying crippled on the ground before him.
Shulk
Cynrik felt his blade meet little resistance as the head of the once-powerful being rolled away with its singular eye wide open in horror and shock.
-Turning Point Quest: Challenge for Supremacy has been completed.-
-After battling against the Spirit of a being several times stronger than yourself, you have come out on top and won the battle for supremacy over your soul.-
-Your Success in battle has allowed you to fully integrate the Divinity fragment once owned by Jörmungandr, The World Devouring Serpent, making it your own. Therefore, you will not suffer any consequences upon fully integrating this fragment.
-Defeat the Æsir Spirit – Jörmungandr
-Reward: Two 2-Karat Secret Grade Omnipoison Pristine Affinity Gems.
-Reward 2: 1 Vial of concentrated Omnipoison holding five drops of liquid Poison.
-Reward 3: You have unlocked Hidden Stat, Poison Resistance, and obtained 25 points in this stat. Each point represents 1% of resistance against poisons of all kinds. The higher the points, the more immune you are to any type of Poison.
-Reward 4: You have gained 25 points in your Will Power Stat.-
-By absorbing the Divinity Fragment housing the Spirit of The World Devouring Serpent Jörmungandr, you have repaired all damage to your SOC and Soul.-
Cynrik watched as two brilliant yet tiny gems appeared floating before him and reached out to hold them. Then, after taking a brief look at the visibly toxic diamonds, he tossed them in his inventory and lost himself in the feeling of his soul completely healing.
He spent a few minutes resting, and once he was sure his body was at peak performance, he opened his eyes and looked over at Tobs.
“Get us outta here, Tobs; it’s time to go home.” He said with tiredness weighing heavily on his voice.
-As you wish, Host Cynrik. Now beginning transfer procedures.-
With that, Cynrik’s eyes blurred into darkness as the world of his SOC disappeared, and his consciousness was transported by Tobs back into his body in the real world.
Cynrik felt the strange transition into his body, and soon a grim expression painted his face as he became aware of a hand rubbing his stomach over the top of what he assumed to be his comforter.
“Woman…I swear to fucking everything in existence, if you DO NOT STOP RUBBING MY FUCKING BELLY, I WILL EVISCERATE YOU AND FEED YOU TO SOME HOUNDS IN THE NEXT EGRESS WE DIVE INTO!” Cynrik’s voice started out calm, but by the time he finished speaking, he was howling in full-blown rage at the older girl wearing a lewd grin as she molested Cynrik’s abs.
“EEP, WHO WAS RUBBING YOUR BELLY? IT WASN’T ME; IT MUST HAVE BEEN BENNY!” Selene screamed while pulling her hand back and pointing at the visibly confused Benny not far away.
“Who the hell blames Benny? HE NEVER DOES ANYTHING WRONG! Unlike you, who CLEARLY doesn’t know the meaning of the words “Sexual Assualt.” Sitting up and tossing his comforter to the side, Cynrik crossed his arms over his chest, forming an X and wearing an expression he had been wronged.
Meanwhile, Benny, who had been thrown under the bus for something he would never do in a million years, looked at Cynrik, double-checked he was ok and walked up to Selene. Once he arrived and towered over the girl, he mercilessly ground his knuckles on the crown of her head, drawing several pained curses and fake tears in response.
Brance awoke from his nap thanks to the loud antics of Selene, Benny, and Cynrik, only to discover he was lying on a warm pillow; once he looked up and saw Gabby looking down from above, he realized what position he was in, and sat up, blushing brightly.
Brance’s eyes quickly darted away from the toned pale thighs his head had been resting on and over towards Cynrik, who had joined in with Benny taking turns punishing Selene with noogies.
“Glad to see you back and in one piece, Big Brother; now, would you care to explain why you thought it was a good idea to light yourself on fire to burn off a layer of Poison caked into your soul?” A simple observation was all Brance needed to see that his brother was in one piece and undamaged, so he quickly went into parenting mode and began scolding Cynrik.
“Uh…uh…uh…well you see what had happened wasss…Yeah, ok, I got nothing to defend myself with here. I was out of options, and it was either, you know, “flame on” or die, so I went with option one. How was I supposed to know it would affect my body in the SOC and my one IRL.” Shrugging, Cynrik released Selene and walked over to Brance, offering him a hand up.
“Thanks for the clutch heals back there; I woulda been fucked without them,” Cynrik said, patting Brance’s shoulder.
“Yeah, well, we should invest in a Cleric or full-time healer because I can’t be the only one stitching you back together, especially in combat.” Brance chuckled and smacked Cynrik back happily, who was a full inch shorter and had a lot less muscle mass than he did.
-This series is exclusively published on WebNovel if you are reading it anywhere else…You Wrong, Fam. PS Check out the discord, https://discord.gg/dcxKNJEMwg