The moment Max and Talia passed through Blackthorn’s Gate, the city disappeared behind them.
They stood beneath trees with dark, almost black bark. Roots crossed the damp earth, and a steep slope fell away to their right.
Max could hear running water somewhere below, along with the much closer sound of an animal grunting as it dug through the soil.
He smiled. "Bristlebacks."
Three Bristlebacks pushed through the undergrowth.
They were enormous, broad-shouldered beasts with hooked black spines rising from their necks and backs. The largest lowered its head and charged straight for Talia.
"I’ll take this one!" she called, raising her shield.
Max moved toward the others.
The first beast lunged. He slipped past its spines and struck beneath its jaw, driving his claws into the softer flesh.
It collapsed before it could turn. The second came from his right, but Max caught its charge with a sidestep and slashed through the tendon behind its foreleg.
When it stumbled, he finished it with a blow to the neck.
SHNK!
Ding!
[E-rank Bristleback Slain]
[EXP +75]
Ding!
[E-rank Bristleback Slain]
[EXP +75]
Talia had already dealt with her opponent. She caught its charge on the slanted face of her shield, guided it into a tree, and struck its exposed neck with her baton.
When she turned, Max was crouched beside one of his kills, inspecting the muscles around its hindquarters.
"Two already?" she asked.
"They don’t turn very well." Max cut two small samples and held them up. "Mind collecting the cores? I want to examine these."
"We agreed to split them, so sure."
While Talia worked, Max moved behind a thick trunk and swallowed a piece of flesh from each Bristleback. He selected Stats both times, concentrating on Agility.
[AGI +1]
[AGI +1]
A faint warmth passed through his legs. Two points weren’t enough to transform him, but he could feel his footing becoming lighter.
’Now let’s find something faster.’
He returned as Talia slipped the third core into her pouch. She looked at the bloody specimen bag in his hand, then at him.
"You really intend to study these things afterward?"
"That’s the plan."
"All right. Lead the way, then."
They followed a narrow path between the roots until Max noticed claw marks high on a rock face. He stopped and looked up.
A Nightfang Lynx dropped from the ledge.
WHOOSH!
Max leaned away from its claws, caught it by the throat, and slammed it against the rock. Its body went limp.
Ding!
[E-rank Nightfang Lynx Slain]
[EXP +75]
DING!
[Level Up!]
[Level: 8]
[Fatigue: 0]
Another lynx sprang from the branches above him. Max twisted beneath it and drove the gauntlet upward. Its belly split open, and it fell beside the first.
Ding!
[E-rank Nightfang Lynx Slain]
[EXP +75]
Two more lynxes came rushing along the ledge. Talia raised her shield to intercept one, but Max was already climbing the rock.
He caught the nearer animal as it leaped and threw it into its companion.
Both tumbled down the slope, and he landed among them, finishing one with his claws and the other with a hard strike beneath its skull.
Ding!
[Two E-rank Nightfang Lynxes Slain]
[EXP +150]
[EXP: 280/400]
Talia lowered her shield. She hadn’t even found an opening to attack.
"I was going to help," she said.
"You can have the next one."
"That’s generous of you."
Max laughed and knelt beside the lynxes. Their hind legs were remarkably lean, built for explosive movement without the bulk of a Bristleback.
He’d expected that much from the species descriptions, but holding the muscle in his hand made him even more interested in what Devour could extract.
He took his specimens around a bend while Talia collected the cores. Four bites later, the notifications appeared one after another.
[AGI +2]
[AGI +2]
[AGI +2]
[AGI +2]
Max straightened and took a step.
He almost walked straight into a tree.
’Whoa.’
He caught himself with one hand, laughing quietly. His legs had carried him farther than he’d intended with barely any effort.
When he tried a short sideways movement, his body seemed to respond before he’d finished deciding where to go.
He emerged from the bend in two quick strides.
Talia looked up from her pouch. "How did you get back so fast?"
"Wasn’t far."
"I saw you go around those rocks, Max. You were moving normally a minute ago."
He glanced at the distance and realized she had a point. He hadn’t used Burst Step, yet his new Agility was already making ordinary movement look rather suspicious.
"Guess I’m warming up."
"Some warm-up." She swung the pouch onto her shoulder. "And somehow I’m the one getting tired."
Max eyed the growing collection. "How many cores?"
"Seven. You’re doing the killing, and I’m doing all the digging."
"You’re welcome to take the next group."
Talia smiled despite herself. "No, I’m starting to like this arrangement."
They hadn’t gone much farther when three Bristlebacks emerged from a thicket near the stream.
Max spotted their tracks before they appeared and was already moving as the first one charged.
He passed its shoulder so quickly that the beast struck the tree behind him. His claws opened its throat before it recovered.
Another came barreling down the slope while Talia intercepted the third with her shield.
Max met his opponent at an angle, caught the side of its head, and drove it into a jutting stone.
CRACK!
Ding!
[Two E-rank Bristlebacks Slain]
[EXP +150]
DING!
[Level Up!]
[Level: 9]
[EXP: 30/490]
[Fatigue: 0]
Something clicked inside his gauntlet.
Max looked down as thin crimson lines spread along the metal fingers, brighter than he’d ever seen them. The plates shifted, settling closer to his skin.
DING!
[Unknown Gauntlet]
[50/50 Kills]
[First Seal Released!]
[New Ability: Sanguine Claim]
[Type: Passive]
[Trigger: 20% chance per successful claw strike that draws blood]
[Effect: Siphons a portion of the target’s vitality to repair the wearer’s injuries.]
[Cost: 0 MP]
[Limits: Cannot restore lost limbs or mana. Healing depends on the vitality stolen.]
Max slowly opened and closed his hand. A weapon that could repair his wounds while he fought?
’Oh, I like that.’
"Max?" Talia was approaching with her shield under one arm. She’d finished the last Bristleback and was staring at his gauntlet.
"What just happened to your hand?"
The crimson glow faded between his fingers.
Max grinned. "It got better."
She looked unconvinced, but the last Bristleback still needed harvesting, and Max was already cutting samples from the other two. She left him to it.
Behind the trees, he took a bite from each piece and selected Agility.
[AGI +1]
[AGI +1]
He’d now gained twelve Agility through Devour in a single Gate. Even allowing for his recent level-ups, it was ridiculous how much quicker he felt.
The next time he fought Hale, the instructor might not find him quite so easy to catch.
’Now for Strength.’
They reached a ravine with a fallen tree spanning its narrowest point. Talia was looking for a way across when Max heard movement above them.
Five Nightfang Lynxes emerged along the ledges, spreading out to cut off both ends of the passage.
"They’re surrounding us," Talia said, but Max only had a wicked grin on his face.
"I’ll take them."