The clearing reeked of death.
Don stood sixteen meters from General Vex—just outside the kill-zone where the moss had turned black and every living thing dissolved into sludge.
The General's white, pupil-less eyes tracked Don with unnatural precision despite their blindness. Vex "saw" through poison-sense, detecting the faint toxins in every living creature's body like a predator smelling blood.
Behind Don's shoulders, two Executioner's Edge blades hovered in semi-transparent form—guillotines waiting to fall.
[Careful, little seed. That 15-meter zone is ABSOLUTE death. One step inside and your flesh will melt faster than even your Immortality can regenerate.]
Don's yellow eye narrowed, calculating distances, angles, possibilities.
Vex raised his staff—the crystal vial atop it pulsing with sickly purple light.
When he spoke, his Poison Whisper carried across the clearing in that language Don now understood perfectly thanks to devouring Bloodfang:
"Red-haired human. You killed my soldiers. Burned my supplies. Destroyed everything."
The General's mouth—more a gash in his skeletal face—twisted into something like a smile.
"I will make your death last WEEKS. Every cell in your body will dissolve while you remain conscious. You will BEG for mercy. You will—"
Don moved.
Not forward. Sideways.
His Agility of 118 carried him in a blur, circling left, forcing Vex to rotate to track him. The 15-meter death zone moved with the General, but the edge—that critical boundary—shifted.
Vex's staff swept in an arc, and the purple liquid inside the vial ERUPTED.
A wave of concentrated poison exploded outward—not a projectile, but a CLOUD. It expanded like toxic fog, moving faster than running speed, engulfing everything in a 30-meter radius.
Don activated Telekinesis.
[SKILL: TELEKINESIS ACTIVATED] [COST: 18 MANA/SECOND] [MANA: 3,942/3,960]
A massive tree branch—dead, blackened, but still solid—flew from the forest floor. Don didn't lift it gently. He HURLED it with his mind directly into the poison cloud's path.
The branch dissolved instantly, eaten by toxins that would have killed him.
But it bought him two seconds.
Two seconds to create distance. Two seconds to invoke his newest ability.
[SKILL: ELEMENTAL MANIPULATION ACTIVATED] [ELEMENT: FIRE] [MANA COST: 50]
A wall of flames erupted between Don and the poison cloud—not to burn the toxins, but to create UPDRAFT.
Hot air rising, pulling the poison cloud upward, dispersing it into the crimson sky instead of ground level.
The toxic fog rose, thinned, became survivable.
[MANA: 3,874/3,960]
Vex's white eyes tracked Don's new position. The General's movements were twitchy, unnatural—his own toxins constantly eating and regenerating his muscles in an endless cycle that had lasted 184 years.
"Clever," Vex hissed. "But tricks won't save you."
The General's free hand—his left, still intact—gestured sharply.
The moss beneath Don's feet turned BLACK.
[WARNING: TOXIC GROUND CONTACT] [POISON ENTERING THROUGH BOOTS]
Don felt it immediately—the leather of his boots dissolving, the toxin touching skin, beginning to seep into his blood through the soles of his feet.
He jumped, using his enhanced Strength to launch himself backward, landing on untouched ground twenty feet away.
But the damage was done.
The poison was INSIDE him now.
[WARNING: VEX'S TOXIC ESSENCE DETECTED] [POISON RESISTANCE: 30% (COMMON TIER)] [INSUFFICIENT - TOXIN SPREADING]
Don felt his feet beginning to melt.
Not metaphorically. LITERALLY.
The flesh dissolved from the bottom up—skin peeling away like wet paper, muscle liquefying, bone exposed and corroding.
Blood that wasn't quite red anymore—too contaminated—leaked from wounds that appeared and healed and appeared again.
[HP: 10/- (REGENERATING)] [IMMORTALITY: ACTIVE - HEALING RATE EXCEEDING DAMAGE RATE] [MANA: 3,774/3,960] (draining to fuel regeneration)
The pain was IMMENSE despite Immortality's passive reduction. Don's jaw clenched so hard his teeth cracked. His hands shook.
[It's spreading UP, little seed! Into your ankles! Your calves! Your Immortality is keeping you alive but your MANA—]
[MANA: 3,624/3,960]
Don looked down. His legs below the knee were nothing but exposed bone wrapped in constantly-regenerating flesh that melted the instant it formed.
Dissolve. Regenerate. Dissolve. Regenerate.
An endless cycle compressed into seconds that felt like hours.
[This is INSANE! You can't fight like this! Your mana will run out in MINUTES at this rate!]
Vex was watching with those horrible white eyes, that gash-mouth twisted in satisfaction.
"Yes. FEEL it. My masterpiece. Two hundred years perfecting this toxin. It eats EVERYTHING. Flesh. Bone. Even SOUL if given time."
The General took a step forward, staff raised.
"Your regeneration is impressive. But futile. Eventually, you'll run out of energy. And then—"
Don activated Emotion Suppression.
[SKILL: EMOTION SUPPRESSION ACTIVATED] [DURATION: 11 MINUTES] [COST: 81 MANA] [MANA: 3,543/3,960]
The agony vanished—not the sensation, but the RESPONSE to it. The fear. The panic. The primal terror of watching your own body dissolve.
All of it gone.
What remained was pure tactical analysis.
Don's brown eye and yellow eye both went cold. Empty. Calculating.
[Probability of survival if combat continues: 12%]
[Mana depletion in: 4 minutes 37 seconds] [Victory conditions: IMPOSSIBLE at current power differential]
[Alternative objectives: RETRIEVE BIOLOGICAL SAMPLE]
[Optimal target: ARM]
Vex's right arm—the one holding the staff.
The source of his poison manipulation. The weapon he'd used to destroy kingdoms.
Cut it off. Take it. Escape.
Simple. Clean. Achievable.
Don's two Executioner's Edge blades moved forward, manifesting into full physical form.
[IRON WILL ABILITY: WILL MANIFEST] [COST: 10 MANA/SECOND]
The guillotine blades became SOLID—darker than midnight, crimson veins pulsing with his heartbeat. Each one two meters of perfect killing edge.
But Vex was Stage 2. Level 14. A General who'd survived nearly two centuries.
Cutting his arm wouldn't be simple.
Vex's Poison Whisper echoed again, this time closer, more intense: "CORRODE."
The word carried POWER—not just sound but CONCEPT. A Stage 2 ability that enforced will upon reality.
The air itself around Don turned toxic. His armor began to dissolve. The Executioner's Edge blades—manifestations of his Iron Will—started to CRACK, poison eating at their very existence.
[WARNING: MANIFESTATION UNDER ATTACK] [IRON WILL: RESISTING] [COST: +20 MANA/SECOND TO MAINTAIN]
Don's mana plummeted.
[MANA: 3,273/3,960]
Three seconds. That's how long he could maintain this before—
And then something inside Don CLICKED.
His Nexus talent—the convergence of all energies—suddenly FLARED.
Not to create.
Not to attack.
To SEPARATE.
Don's consciousness expanded inward, into his own body, into the very ESSENCE of what he was.
And he SAW it.
His energy wasn't one unified thing. It was LAYERS.
Black Nexus energy.
Golden Source power.
Abyss taint.
Madness corruption.
Red human vitality.
All of them flowing together, mixing, interconnected like rivers joining into an ocean.
And Vex's poison was trying to contaminate ALL of them simultaneously.
That's why his mana was draining so fast—his Immortality was fighting toxins in EVERY layer, trying to purge and regenerate across his entire essence structure.
Inefficient.
Wasteful.
WRONG.
[What... what are you DOING?!]
Even Madness sounded shocked.
Don didn't answer. He just ACTED.
His Nexus talent surged—not outward but INWARD—and he GRABBED the poisoned energy.
The contaminated layer—infected vitality, corrupted life force—SEPARATED from the clean layers beneath.
Like peeling rotted flesh away to reach healthy tissue.
Like isolating a disease before it spreads.
The poisoned energy formed a BUBBLE in his consciousness—contained, isolated, cut off from his core essence.
[DISCOVERY: ESSENCE SEPARATION] [NEXUS OF ALL ENERGIES: NEW APPLICATION UNLOCKED]
[WARNING: ADVANCED TECHNIQUE - REQUIRES INTENSE CONCENTRATION] [WARNING: SEPARATION IS TEMPORARY - WILL REINTEGRATE IN 3 MINUTES]
But three minutes was ENOUGH.
The regeneration became EASIER. Faster.
His mana wasn't being wasted fighting poison across his entire system—just the isolated bubble, which he could purge completely or let dissipate once the toxin was neutralized.
[MANA DRAIN: REDUCED BY 60%] [REGENERATION: STABILIZED]
Don's legs stopped dissolving. The flesh grew back properly—whole, clean, functional. His boots were destroyed but his feet were INTACT.
He stood fully, both blades humming with restored power.
[You just—you just SEPARATED your essence layers?!]
Madness's voice cracked with genuine shock.
[That's Stage 2 territory! That's what the Crucible of Essence TEACHES! How did you—?!]
Don didn't answer.
Because Vex was MOVING.
The General's white eyes had widened—the only expression Don had seen from him.
Shock. Recognition.
"You... separated... that's IMPOSSIBLE for Stage 1!"
Vex's voice lost its confident mockery, replaced by something that might have been fear.
"What ARE you?!"
Don's response was simple.
He CHARGED.
Not at Vex directly—that would still be suicide, the 15-meter zone remained absolute death.
But at an angle. Circling. Exploiting his superior Agility.
Vex tried to rotate, to keep Don outside the kill-zone, but Don was FASTER now—his legs whole, his body no longer fighting internal poison, every stat optimized.
The Executioner's Edge blades moved independently—one feinting high, drawing Vex's attention and forcing him to raise his staff defensively.
The second blade struck LOW.
Targeting the joints. The weak points his Greenskin Hunter title revealed even though Vex wasn't a goblin—the anatomical vulnerabilities that ALL humanoid creatures shared.
The blade aimed for Vex's right elbow—the joint connecting forearm to upper arm, the weakest structural point in the limb.
But Vex was FAST.
His Poison Whisper came again: "WALL."
A barrier of solidified toxin materialized between the blade and his arm—thick, viscous, ABSOLUTE.
The Executioner's Edge cut into it and STOPPED.
The poison didn't just block—it tried to CORRODE the blade itself, eating at the manifestation of Don's will.
[MANIFESTATION UNDER ATTACK] [IRON WILL: RESISTING] [COST: +50 MANA BURST TO REINFORCE]
[MANA: 3,118/3,960]
Don pulled back before the blade could be destroyed, both guillotines retreating to defensive positions.
Vex was breathing harder now—not from exhaustion but from exertion. That defensive move had cost him energy too.
Good.
[He's WORRIED, little seed. He knows you discovered something you shouldn't have. But he's still STRONGER. You need—]
Don activated Analyze, pushing it specifically at Vex's RIGHT ARM.
[SKILL: ANALYZE ACTIVATED] [TARGET: GENERAL VEX'S RIGHT ARM] [MANA COST: 9 (FREE - GREENSKIN HUNTER DOESN'T APPLY BUT COST REDUCED BY NEXUS TALENT)]
[ANALYZING...]
Information flooded his mind:
VEX'S RIGHT ARM:
Primary weapon limb (holds staff)Muscles: 78% functional (rest dissolved/regenerating constantly)
Bone density: Compromised (184 years of self-poisoning)Weak point: Elbow joint (reinforced with toxic cartilage but BRITTLE)
Staff connection: Symbiotic (arm and staff partially FUSED through decades of use)
Optimal attack: Two simultaneous strikes, different angles, targeting joint from INSIDE the poison wall
Critical Discovery:
Vex's arm is literally DYING and being kept "alive" through constant poison-infusion. If separated from his body, it will remain "active" for approximately 3-5 minutes before full necrotization. Perfect for harvesting.
[MANA: 3,109/3,960]
Don's cold, emotionless mind processed the information instantly.
The arm was the key. Not just strategically—BIOLOGICALLY.
If he could sever it, take it, and escape before Vex killed him... he could DEVOUR it. Absorb its traits. Gain poison immunity, gain understanding, gain POWER.
And Vex would be crippled—his primary weapon gone, his manipulation of toxins severely reduced.
The tactical calculus was simple:
Success probability if continuing direct combat: 8%
Success probability if severing arm and escaping: 67%
The choice was obvious.
Don created a fire dagger in his left hand while his right hand remained free, ready to grab.
[SKILL: ELEMENTAL MANIPULATION] [ELEMENT: FIRE] [MANA COST: 30]
The blade of flame materialized—primitive but functional.
Then he activated his trump card.
[SKILL: EXECUTIONER'S JUDGMENT] [CHARGES: 2/2] [COST: 30 MANA] [COOLDOWN: 10 SECONDS]
One of his Executioner's Edge blades became GHOSTLY—semi-transparent, phasing between reality and concept. For one perfect strike, it would ignore physical defenses.
Including poison walls.
[MANA: 3,049/3,960]
The ghostly blade shot forward like a bullet, targeting Vex's right elbow from INSIDE the poison barrier—phasing through the toxic wall as if it didn't exist.
Vex's white eyes widened.
He tried to dodge—too slow—
The blade BIT into his elbow joint. Not cutting through—Vex's Stage 2 body was too durable for a single strike—but CRACKING the joint, compromising the structure.
Vex SCREAMED—not his Poison Whisper, but an actual scream of pain and rage.
His poison aura EXPLODED outward, a desperate omnidirectional blast meant to kill everything within 20 meters.
Don was ready.
He activated Telekinesis and YANKED a massive tree trunk—dead, blackened, but SOLID—directly into the path of the poison wave, using it as a shield.
[SKILL: TELEKINESIS] [COST: 18 MANA/SECOND × 3 SECONDS]
[MANA: 2,995/3,960]
The trunk dissolved, but it bought him time.
Time to close the distance while Vex was off-balance from the pain.
Time for his SECOND blade—the one that wasn't ghostly—to strike from a different angle.
Don's second Executioner's Edge carved upward, targeting the SAME compromised elbow joint from below.
Metal met bone.
The joint—already cracked by Executioner's Judgment, already brittle from 184 years of self-poisoning—FAILED.
SNAP.
Vex's forearm separated from his upper arm.
Not a clean cut. A BREAK.
Bone fragments. Torn muscle. The staff clattered from nerveless fingers still attached to the severed limb.
Don didn't hesitate.
His free hand GRABBED the falling arm mid-air, his enhanced Dexterity of 103 making the catch look effortless.
The limb was still ALIVE—muscles twitching, fingers flexing, poison leaking from the stump like toxic blood.
Perfect.
Vex's remaining hand clutched his stump, white eyes blazing with FURY and—was that FEAR?
"YOU DARE—MY ARM—I'LL—"
Don was already running.
[AGILITY: 118]
He BLURRED through the forest, his Executioner's Edge blades dematerializing, every ounce of his enhanced speed focused on pure ESCAPE.
Behind him, Vex's Poison Whisper split the air—not words now, but pure RAGE made sound. The forest around the clearing began to DIE—trees blackening, moss dissolving, even the air itself becoming toxic.
But Don was FAST.
Faster than Vex could spread his poison.
Faster than the General could give chase while clutching his stump, trying to stop the bleeding, trying to regenerate.
One kilometer.
Two kilometers.
Three.
Don didn't stop until he was FIVE kilometers from the clearing, deep in the Shadowfen where the trees grew so thick even the crimson twilight barely penetrated.
Only then did he collapse against a massive trunk, breathing hard, the severed arm still clutched in his hands.
It was HEAVY. Dense. The bone structure was WRONG—reinforced with layers of calcified poison, the muscle fibers woven with toxic strands that kept it "alive" despite being separated from the body.
The staff was still fused to the hand, fingers locked around it in a death grip that even severance couldn't break.
[Holy... SHIT, little seed.]
Madness's voice was barely a whisper.
[You actually DID it. You cut off a Stage 2 General's ARM and ESCAPED.]
Don deactivated Emotion Suppression. The cold tactical clarity faded, replaced by exhaustion, lingering pain, and the WEIGHT of what he'd just done.
[SKILL: EMOTION SUPPRESSION DEACTIVATED] [EMOTIONS: RESTORED]
His hands were shaking now—not from fear, but from adrenaline crash. His legs felt like water. His mana sat at under 3000.
But he'd done it.
He'd fought a Stage 2 General.
Not won. Not killed.
But SURVIVED. And taken the prize.
Don looked down at the severed arm, still twitching slightly in his grip.
The purple crystal vial on the staff pulsed faintly, the plague inside still ALIVE, still potent.
This arm held 184 years of poison mastery.
Centuries of accumulated toxin resistance.
The essence of a Stage 2 entity.
And Don was about to EAT it.
He raised the arm.
"So let's see what a General tastes like."