A Jaded Life

Chapter 1354

Even as I shuffled towards the hole leading to the prison, I was wondering if I could just put a cap on it, some sort of plug, and just go to sleep. Or if I should try stepping through the shadows, head to one of my two towers, or anywhere that wasn’t here really, and sleep there, returning rested and armed in the morning. The issue was, with my mind as exhausted as it was, could I navigate the distance? Or would I get stuck in the shadows? I had never tried to travel anything close to that distance while exhausted, and just the short step from the prison to my shelter made me wary; it had been dangerously close. My short rest had allowed me to recuperate some of my strength, but was it enough? I just didn’t know.

Plus, there were disadvantages to leaving, even if I were confident I could pull it off. The biggest was that I had no idea just what a Revenant was capable of. It might be able to break through any seal I put on the hole, causing damage to the rest of my facility in the process, including my three other test subjects. Losing those would be a little annoying. I was just getting used to the way their minds worked, especially that of Lisa, which would be a tragic loss; it was so perfectly accommodating and pleasing, easy to work with and warp in any way I wanted. I had no idea how many people out there were as innately submissive and malleable as she was, but I doubted there were many of those.

So, instead of planning to run, I was investigating, just to see if I needed to fight or if the Revenant was contained within the prison. I had done my best to make the place impossible to escape after all. Mainly the cells, sure, but just getting out of the area itself wasn’t trivially done either, with the long, smooth shafts. Maybe I should have included a plug long enough to seal the entire shaft and fill it with stone, suspended directly above it, so it could be dropped down to seal the shaft. There might be some issues with overpressure, but I wasn’t sure. I would have to look that up in some of the books we had stashed away or experiment a little. Something to consider later, no matter how curious an idea it was.

Shaking my head, I forced my thoughts away from their exhausted wanderings, trying to focus on the present and the issue at hand. Namely, the Revenant that was below me, still actively doing something. I had no idea what; I could only hear the occasional crunching noise of crumbling stone, making me a little anxious.

Anxious, slightly paranoid, but also cautious. Without any of the gear I was usually using, which had mostly been scattered between my two towers, I was a little at a loss. But I simply hadn’t planned for combat to find me in this supposedly secure facility; maybe I should have. After all, this wasn’t the first time that one of my experiments tried to bite me in the behind, though this time, it was more literal than usual. Though not by much.

So, to improve my odds, I started to conjure Ice, the familiar sensation of the freezing substance wrapping around my body, surprisingly comfortable. It was almost as if some of my mental and physical exhaustion was eased by the cold, which was a new experience. But then, I rarely let myself get as drained as I was now, which might explain why I hadn’t encountered this effect.

Armoured in partially solidified Ice, I kept walking, wondering if I should form another weapon. The issue was that my left arm, while partially healed, was still far from hale. Using it could cause further issues, making a spear similar to the one I had used before somewhat useless. Plus, my best bet would be to use the environment against the Revenant, keeping it as far from my squishy, tired body as possible.

Maybe I could cripple the Revenant. Pain wouldn’t slow it down; I had no illusions there, but if I could cause enough mechanical damage, the thing would be hindered. After all, it was hard to walk if you were cut off at the knee, and swinging an arm that had been severed at the shoulder was difficult as well. Unless you used your other arm and turned it into a club, but that was an entirely different mode of attack.

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So, instead of some melee weapon, I started to conjure Icicles, similar to the Frozen Shuttles I had used on Mundus, letting them float behind me, held aloft by my magic. That, too, was a familiar sensation, one I only now realised I had missed. On Mundus, I had readily made weapons like this one, but on Terra, I had never bothered. Instead, I had focused on simpler things, tools to help me in my everyday life, like the numerous runic circles that returned modern convenience to the shelters I set up regularly. Simply because those had been the regular challenges, not single, powerful enemies. Certainly not when I was alone, exhausted and within limited space.

When I got near the hole down to the prison, I used a simple scrying construct to peer down, just in case the Revenant was closer than preferred. What I saw made my eyes bug out a little, and a disbelieving part of my mind was loudly screaming that this was impossible. The Revenant was climbing the shaft, despite my precautions against enemies doing just that. It had somehow managed to get past the reverse funnel below, maybe by virtue of jumping high enough, and now, it was bouncing from one side of the shaft to the other, hammering its claws into the wall with each bounce. How it managed to do that, how it didn’t just bounce off instead of having its claws penetrate solid, magically hardened stone, I had no idea. And I wasn’t sure I wanted to know right this instant; there were other things to worry about.

Namely, that the thing was far too close to the top for comfort, just a few seconds from escaping containment altogether.

Old instincts, honed in numerous battles on Mundus, made me react, even without seeing the creature with my own eyes. Shards of razor-sharp Ice shot forward, a small volley as I kept the majority back, arcing down into the hole. Their speed was low; even magic had to account for momentum, and making them go faster would have caused them to crash into the shaft’s walls, but they got where I needed them. The Revenant barely noticed the bombardment, though my strikes imparted enough force to the jumping creature to push it down a little, giving me more time.

Once again, I considered whether I could seal the hole or maybe loosen a large rock from the ceiling above to crush the climbing monster, but either option would take too much time. I didn’t have the minutes to work my magic; I had seconds before the monster was out.

Twice more, I struck the Revenant, only using the few blades I had initially sent down to attack, while slowly adding more Icicles to those already floating behind me. It was better to have them and let them fade later than not have them at all.

Then, the Revenant came bounding out of the tunnel, its eyes immediately fixating on me, only to have another set of Icicles crash into it. One of those even managed to take out of the creature’s eyes, piercing deep into the thing’s skull. On a human, that would have been utterly fatal, but on the Revenant? The thing barely noticed, not even when I caused the Icicle to explode into shrapnel, shredding the insides of his skull completely.

As it charged at me, I added more attacks, no longer aiming for the usual vital areas and instead concentrating my attacks on the limbs. Or, more precisely, attacking its joints, the shoulders, elbows and especially the knees. Taking off an arm would be nice, but if I could disable the thing’s legs, I had all the time in the world to take it apart.

Moving backwards as quickly as possible, I noticed that one of its knees was starting to come apart, so I instantly focused more Icicles there, enough to create frost around the area. As soon as that happened, I channelled a surge of power, ignoring the spike of fresh pain in my head, and caused it to explode, a savage grin on my face as the leg came off, causing the Revenant to stumble and fall when the leg it was trying to land on was gone.

With it on the ground, I added more and more Icicles, no longer trying to pierce but wrapping around the limbs, turning the Ice into the equivalent of a buzzsaw, slowly grinding through the thing’s flesh and bones.

It was insane just how tough the thing was, but with its legs disabled, it could only try dragging itself forward with its arms, though even with just that, it was a little too fast for comfort. Until one of its arms came off, too, leaving it scrabbling uselessly, while I only grinned wider.

Then, finally, after all its limbs were cut off and its only remaining weapon was its bite, I could rest easily. That is, until I beheaded the thing and still didn’t get the system’s message that it was dead, making me a little concerned.