Sucking in a deep breath, there was a brief pause before he exhaled.

"That was intense..." Nero muttered.

His surroundings had settled back into a calm.

He frowned and flexed his fingers.

Then he glanced in the direction of his throw.

His brows trembled,

"My spear... My catch..."

His throw had completely eviscerated the body of his catch. He had wanted to absorb the Ein Sof from the body of the creature after the kill, but now, there was nothing left.

And to make matters worse, his spear had continued to travel further, vanishing into the dark forest far away from his field of observation.

There was no weapon for him anymore.

He smiled bitterly.

'At least the thing is dead...'

He also still had his knife, so it wasn't so bad, right?

Nero tried to convince himself.

He waited for a moment, considering if he should go look for his weapon.

Eventually, he decided against it.

There was no point in that. Plus, he couldn't waste any more time.

He only prayed he would find another hunt soon.

***

Fortunately for Nero, the gods, dead and alive, seemed keen on answering his unsaid prayers.

After running for an hour, he came across a rather ugly looking thing.

With disgusting sounds being made as it dug its large snout into the gutted body of a hunt, an Abomination had caught his attention.

Nero quietly regarded it for a moment, before considering it a good hunt.

He drew his dagger and crept forward. The creature was so focused on its meal, it didn't notice him at all.

When he was close enough, Nero shot forward.

His body seemed to blend in with the shadows, cutting a straight path through the air.

CLANG!

The sound of metal gnashing against metal filled the air.

The wicked eyes of the beast was fixed on him.

'Crap!'

Nero's eyes widened. The damned thing had reacted to that?!

Nero's body was quick to move, pushing through the Abomination's hastily constructed guard. His dagger slipped past its claws and slashed it across the arm, drawing a thick bloody gash.

The creature roared and swiped at him with his other arm. Instead of dodging, Nero pushed in even closer, avoiding the dangerous claw strike.

His fist balled up as he smashed his other fist into the creature's nose. Before it could finish its recoil, he brought it back forward and stabbed at its neck.

This was the brutal, offense-heavy style of the Order of the Crimson Crucible. It was a style that heavily compromised defense, choosing an overwhelming attack that bore the enemy down until nothing was left.

However, Abominations were abominable for a reason. In the depths of its being was madness and corruption, unfettered and chaotic.

The creature was much larger than Nero was.

With its body weight, it managed to break through his hold. Nero gritted his teeth, his muscles bulging as he pushed against the force of the beast.

Sergeant Vane had hammered the essence of the combat form into his very being.

To be oppressive required overwhelming force, hence he trained his body.

All the power came from him, as a Templar was a pillar of strength even in the sloshing seas of darkness.

That was what made the combat style so terrible and brutal towards its user, in Nero's opinion.

It simply offered no leeway.

A do or die circumstance.

He reversed his grip on his knife and slashed again. With the balance of the beast shattered, he gushed into a blizt of furious attacks, beating down from all sides.

Until eventually...

His face covered in blood, Nero stared down at the beast.

It was dead. In fact, beyond dead, laying at his feet, absolutely mutilated beyond recognition. Of course, Nero had not gotten away scot-free, his arms covered in lacerations and bite marks. The beast had not been so easily defeated.

With a grimace, Nero knelt at the side of the beast.

What he wanted to do, had to be done quick.

He had no idea if it could work or not, but if it did, it could very well be revolutionary to his fate.

Nero closed his eyes and clasped his palms together, assuming a posture of prayer...

'Oracle, let us begin...'

Nero had thought about it for a while.

He needed to find a way to absorb the Ein Sof without having to consume the rancid flesh fo the Abominations.

And so, he had thought of a way...

When he consumed the corrupted bodies, his body absorbed the corrupted energy. Then the corruption flowed into his flesh and the Ein Sof into his soul.

According to the Oracle, there was a way to absorb the energy from the body of the creature. However, it was nowhere as effective as actually consuming the flesh of the Abominations.

But he had no choice at the moment.

With his eyes closed, the process had already begun. Although his physical eyes were closed, the eyes of the Heretic were wide open.

He could see it with utmost clarity— the lines of energy seeping forth from the body of the dead beast.

'Oracle...' he said mentally, his impatience rising to the surface.

All of a sudden, a burst of information filled his mind.

He groaned and almost fell on his back. However, he managed to steady himself at the last moment.

The information the Oracle had released into his mind was information on how to absorb the energy he needed.

He didn't understand most of what it was. However, he got the gist.

Slowly, he began regulating his breathing.

His heartbeats began to settle until he had achieved internal serenity.

His mind traveled instantly. Into the depths of himself.

He visualized it. A river of flowing energy— one dark, the other light.

The two streams of energy flowed separately and uniformly. Seeing this, Nero urged them towards themselves, according to what he was shown.

At first, there was nothing.

Then, the surface of the rivers trembled...

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