Apocalypse Healer - Path of Death-Chapter 66B1 - Crimson Motes

“It’s no surprise the Familia considers this a 2-Star team mission. They already know what’s going on.” Torb walked up to them. “But that’s fine. The mission reward isn’t bad, and we can earn even more from the Kobold carcasses.”

That was true. Ordinary Kobolds weren’t dangerous enough to push the star rating of a team mission to 2-Star. At first, David had been certain the Kobold Nest was overflowing with Kobolds, but the new intel made a lot more sense. The mission was far more dangerous than expected, meaning he couldn’t hold back anymore. He either needed more Blood reserves for the dimension stone or had to use his Skill Runes consistently.

It seemed the time to use his Attribute Points had come, but before investing everything, David needed to confirm something first.

[One Attribute Point has been used to enhance the User’s Soul.]

High(-)(Basic) → High(Basic)

His biggest hope was the expansion of his Source. Enhancing his Soul ought to change and improve his Source, but it didn’t seem like a third droplet would form anytime soon. Even worse, the Source didn’t expand in the following seconds. It felt like nothing had changed.

That can’t be. Something has to change. They always improve something.

The thought reminded David of the first time he had used an Attribute Point. At that time, it hadn’t felt like anything had changed either. However, the truth was that his physical strength had improved considerably—he just hadn’t realized it until he kicked a stone to smithereens in anger.

Something improved, he thought, closing his eyes.

The mind space appeared before him, revealing the Source and two droplets of Blood—one smaller from the earlier fight’s consumption. At first glance, nothing looked out of the ordinary. If anything, everything seemed perfectly fine. The Source was unscathed, the Law of Power was still etched on it, and the Blood droplets glistened with power. Even the Aether drawn to the Source felt pure and potent.

Wait—what was that?

David’s brows furrowed as he examined the Source again. How had he missed this before? A thick layer of translucent Aether swirled around it, closer and heavier than usual.

It took him another second to notice the natural Aether in the Energy Pathways moving toward the Source. That couldn’t be considered odd per se, but it was uncommon for it to happen at an accelerated rate, which was the case now.

David expanded his focus and caught a glimpse of the bigger picture.

Aether had entered his Source. It appeared to revolve around his two Blood droplets and… fueled them? Was that it? The natural Aether in his Energy Pathways seemed to replenish his Blood—or tried to, at least. But there was a problem with that. Blood wasn’t made of Aether alone. As far as David was concerned, Blood required both Aether and Essence to be formed.

Specifically, it required Aether and the crimson motes—either his Lifeforce or the Essence of his existence. Not that he knew the difference, or if there was even a difference at all. That was all David had been taught by Asmodeus, the Law of Blood, and the intel he’d received through his Class, or from the little research he’d done in the meantime.

David recalled Asmodeus mentioning how he had been draining his Essence to fight stronger enemies. That was how David came to the conclusion that crimson motes were closely tied to his Essence. After all, the only times he’d felt drained were connected to those motes.

However, there was also the Alpha Fang, who had summoned crimson motes from the recently deceased. The motes hadn’t lasted long and dispersed quickly back then, but the memory had been etched into his mind.

Could he replicate the Alpha Fang’s power with his own means? Or did he have to use his Essence to form and replenish Blood?

David’s concentration fractured at the sound of Melach’s voice.

“Is everything alright?” the elf asked.

David flinched slightly, the question pulling him out of focus. Without looking up, he waved the elf off.

“Don’t mind me,” he muttered, collecting most of the corpses until only the strongest Kobold remained: the Aether Kobold Swordsman.

“There is something I have to try.”

A moment later, Words of Power rolled from his lips. David noted Melach staring at him intently but ignored him, focusing instead on the Kobold. Something warm trickled down the corner of his eyes. He kneeled, paying no heed to the blood dripping to the ground, and pressed his right hand flat against the carcass’ abdomen.

His hand emanated crimson light as he willed [Holy Touch] to life, sending his power into the corpse. David closed his eyes again, willing his power to course through the monster’s energy pathways to find the crimson motes. At first, he couldn’t sense them.

David felt a faint pulsing in his head, but he ignored it. His attention zeroed in on something—a familiar sensation that made his concentration falter momentarily. Steadying himself, he focused again. Then he sensed them—the crimson motes—with more clarity this time.

There weren’t many crimson motes left, but there were some. A wave of excitement filled him to the brim. However, before he could think of a way to absorb them, something unexpected happened.

David’s brows furrowed as he noticed the crimson motes shifting strangely, pulling away from [Holy Touch]. Yet it also felt like they were being drawn toward him.

Why would they act like that?

It turned out the answer was simple. His perception wasn’t wrong. The crimson motes pulled away from [Holy Touch] only because they were being drawn to the Obsidian Blade, which David had yet to remove.

The Obsidian Blade drained the carcass of its crimson motes—it absorbed them! So that’s how the Obsidian Blade grows.

Many more things began to make sense, though the questions flooding his mind never ceased. Could he take advantage of the Obsidian Blade’s unique property? He could probably find a way.

David considered his options and chose one of the simpler ones. He coated the Obsidian Blade with [Holy Touch], focusing its power on the crimson motes before they could reach the blade. That would disrupt the blade’s growth, but he had more important things to address for now.

His first step was to create a connection—a link made from a stream of Blood, augmented and solidified with [Holy Touch]: to attach to the crimson motes around the Obsidian Blade. The second step was to engulf the crimson motes like a cocoon and pull them into his body through the connecting link. It worked, but it drained far more mental power than he’d hoped. Still, the crimson motes entered his body and were absorbed into his Source, where they were annexed.

As the crimson motes fused with the Aether seeping into his Source, David felt his Blood replenishing at an accelerated pace.

David should have been glad about this. He’d finally found a way to replenish Blood. But the process wasn’t very efficient, and it was impossible to use mid-combat. The only advantage was the spatial necklace with its preservation enchantment. Maybe it was possible to keep the crimson motes in fresh carcasses as long as they were stored inside the necklace. That could be useful—it was worth a thorough experiment.

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But not now.

Replenishing some Blood had drained his mental power, and that was something he couldn’t afford. Not right now. Not with a Kobold Nest awaiting their arrival.

“I’m done,” he muttered, jumping to his feet. His hand reached out to store the Aether Kobold Swordsman in his spatial necklace, but it didn’t work.

“Right.” David’s arm shot forward, his fingers coiling around the soulbound weapon’s handle, and he pulled it out smoothly. His eyes lingered on the crimson traces of [Holy Touch] clinging to the blade, his expression souring.

“Why did I have to overcomplicate this? It would have been so much easier if I’d held the blade while coating it with [Holy Touch]. That would have–...”

A cough interrupted him. He looked up to see Torb and Melach staring daggers at him.

“You said you’re done,” Torb’s eye twitched.

“I am,” David smiled, stored the Aether Kobold at last, and headed toward the Kobold Nest.

But he was not done yet. Not really.

[Two Attribute Points have been used to enhance the User’s Body.]

High(Basic) → Lowest(-)(Intermediate).

[Two Attribute Points have been used to enhance the User’s Mind.]

High(-)(Basic) → High(+)(Basic).

[One Attribute Point has been used to enhance the User’s Soul.]

High(Basic) → High(+)(Basic).

[The User’s Body property reached [Intermediate]. Initiate Constitution aug–...]

The words of the warning blurred as power surged through David’s body, tearing at him like claws.

That was stupid, he cursed his impatience with gritted teeth.

Sickening crunches resounded as his bones broke. He had no time to prepare; power flushed through him in waves. His bones cracked, his skin ripped open, and it felt like every cell in his body had been set on fire.

David instinctively cast and overclocked [Restore], but the pain didn’t cease. It didn’t even lessen. His throat tightened, and he couldn’t breathe. Something surged up his throat, and his body reacted on instinct—he retched and vomited blood, thick and black. His mind blanked for a moment, and when clarity returned, he found himself standing amidst a pool of viscous, dark liquid.

David’s stomach churned, and he retched again, expelling more blood, this time dark red with pitch-black spots. Vomiting blood was bad, of course. But black blood? That was considerably worse.

He cast [Restore] again, trying to ignore the stomach-twisting stench in the air. It smelled like he imagined a sealed warehouse full of decomposing rats would after months of neglect.

Looking down, David saw black blood oozing from every tear in his skin. There was no starting or stopping point—his entire body pushed the vile substance out of him in a relentless flow.

It didn’t stop. The flood of power continued surging through him, ripping through his body at a terrifying pace, breaking everything [Restore] tried to fix. [Restore] was supposed to be incredibly powerful when overclocked and cast with Blood. It should have worked. But the Skill failed, unable to contend with the power occupying every inch of his body, destroying it even as it seeped deeper.

David gritted his teeth. He failed to purge the pain from his mind. Retaining his calm was not an option. Fortunately, he didn’t need his mind for everything—not when he could still rely on his instincts.

He cast [Holy Touch], shrouded his Source, and let energy spread outward from the center of his body. He circulated it through his Energy Pathways, filling them with purified Blood. Many recently unlocked pathways didn’t react well to such potent energy, but David pushed through nonetheless, trusting his instincts.

The power fueling him followed [Holy Touch]’s path. It flooded the Energy Pathways and seeped into them. Some pathways tore apart, but the effects of [Holy Touch] lingered long enough to sustain him. [Restore] jumped into action and repaired the damage with [Holy Touch]’s aid just in time.

It cost him some Blood and caused considerable discomfort, but tearing through some pathways didn’t feel like much of a price compared to the understanding he gained from it. He kept [Holy Touch] active, circulating it through every part of his body. The process wasn’t rapid, but there was no need to rush.

They were probably waiting for him—and cursing him for his reckless idiocy. He was fine with that. He’d feel the same in their place.

But they could move ahead without him if they didn’t want to wait.

One way or another, he was in control of the immense power surging through him. Using [Holy Touch] allowed him to guide the power through his body at will instead of being forced to watch the power act on its own.

He was in charge!

***

David's eyes snapped open. The sky above was a cloudless blue, beautiful and calm. A sharp contrast to the chaos within him moments ago. Lying on his back, a faint breeze brushed across his naked body.

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Naked?

His body jerked upright, and he looked down. Yep. He was naked. Completely.

Only the spatial necklace and his Relic were still with him. As for the Obsidian Blade, David could feel it in his mind space.

“Our crazy, idiotic, suicidal, braindead Cleric has returned to the living,” Melach snorted.

Even Torb’s voice was filled with displeasure. “Why did we accept him into our group again?”

David got to his feet and looked down. The ground was charred, and the bits of hair that had regrown since his last ordeal were gone, too.

“You were the one who wanted to keep him with us. You said we needed him because he can heal and fight. ‘We have to share less’ was one of your idiotic arguments!” Melach grumbled.

“That was…” Torb let out an exasperated sigh. “Probably what I said. I can see myself saying that.”

Torb cleared his throat and pointed at David, his tone sharp with frustration. “But how was I supposed to know this idiot would reconstruct his Constitution in front of a Nest full of monsters?!”

David flinched slightly but kept his face neutral.

“Nobody told me about it. How was I supposed to know what happens when I upgrade Body to the Intermediate Rank?” David said, but the others didn’t seem convinced. They stared daggers at him, and while it looked like they had plenty to say, after exchanging a glance, they both cursed something in their native tongue.

“Put on some clothes,” Melach barked, ruffling his disheveled hair.

“Since we’re on the topic—” David couldn’t finish before the eld interrupted. “I burned them, and every bit of impurity your body expelled. You’re even stupid for a human. No, forget about it. Just…”

Melach pressed his lips together, his pale skin flushing red.

“You will stay in the library for the next few weeks once we’re back,” Torb grunted. David noticed his gaze shift briefly to the spatial necklace. “For a while, at least. We won’t go out hunting with you if you don’t start filling the gaps in your knowledge as soon as possible!”

“Yes, Boss!” David snickered, earning another pair of deadly glares that seemed to scream Not funny!

He accessed the spatial necklace, retrieved a full set of clothes, and winked at Melach when he caught him glancing in his direction. Teasing them was fun. However, thrashing a Kobold Nest should be even better.

“Did I miss something?” he asked, pulling his linen pants up, laser-focused on the building ahead.

“Not really. You weren’t out for long,” Torb commented gloomily. “Something that should have tormented you for several hours, possibly half a day, turned into an ordeal of a few minutes. I repeat myself: I hate you.”

That explained Torb’s strength. His Body property must have reached the Intermediate Rank.

“But why is he so slow?” David muttered to himself. He glanced at Torb, who glared back. “I was just talking to myself. Ignore what I said.”

“His Class focuses on durability, endurance, and strength. It might not be visible through the system, but not all Attribute Points are the same. The Attribute Points and instant enhancements earned from your Class have secret values,” Melach explained in a tone that grated on David's nerves more than he was willing to admit. “But there will always be differences, even if you have the same Class as others. Your physique, training, techniques, and other factors also determine the value of your stat enhancements.”

David caught a mocking glance from the elf. “You would know that if you had visited the library.”

“I will! Later, though!”

“Whatever you say…” Melach didn’t sound convinced.

But did that really matter? The Kobold Nest wouldn’t clear itself!