Awakening: I Ascend As A Legendary Ranked Necromancer-Chapter 37: So it begins

I didn’t know how long it would take to get back to the Tower, and I didn’t know if I’d be able to heal. But there was no way in hell I was turning into a slave puppet.

And that left me with only one choice.

I flung myself forward and shifted my hand into a sword. I cut down sharply, sending an arc of Unholy magic at the beastman but he slid away, the attack only grazed him, and it only left a scorching mark burned into the platform.

The beastman laughed. "Do you think I’d attack you without watching first? I’ve watched how you fight. You change your hand into tentacles, then fold it into a punch or some wing-like thing full of fangs that you use as a sword.

"And that last attack, covering it with green fire and sending it out. You were a fool to fight orcs like that where everyone could see. Now everyone’s seen how you fight."

I didn’t change my hand back from the sword, even though it dripped blood like a spoiled tap. I could already feel myself losing this much blood, and it was making my head light, and my racing heart only made it worse.

"You’ve shown me what you can do too." I said. "So we both knew what the other could do, that puts us in the same..."

I kept talking, hoping to catch him off-guard, but the problem was simple, the beastman was too fast on his feet. He narrowed his eyes on me. "But I haven’t shown you everything I can do."

"And you think I have?" I challenged.

"Yes. That’s why you’re stalling. Forget it. I’m faster than the average Iron Awakener. You can’t catch me unaware."

Yes, I admitted silently. He’s right. I’m pouring all of Hermit’s power into strength. I’m only as fast as an average Iron right now.

I straightened. "So you’re not here to kill me. You’re here to find a way to put me under your control."

The beastman smiled. "That’s how I fight. It’s far more fun watching them struggle under the contract... watching them break slowly."

I stared at him flatly. Then I pulled a sword from my ring, a real sword, one I’d bought a long time ago. Ignoring him, I crouched and planted the blade on the platform, edge facing upward.

I shifted Hermit into a single thick tentacle and lifted the wounded tip.

’Sorry’ I told Hermit mentally. ’I’ll have to cut you again. I’ll make it up to you with delicious monster cores later’

Hermit could regenerate amputated limbs with time.

"Don’t tell me...." the beastman’s face widened in astonished horror.

I pulled all the strength out of Hermit and converted it into speed. Then I brought my arm down on the blade. Muscle and bone were severed cleanly below the dagger wound.

For a moment, there was no pain, just a dull, shocking sting. Then it hit. I sucked in a sharp breath, gripping the stump as I groaned, clenching my teeth hard around the scream that tried to tear out of my throat.

The beastman watched with fascinated, dark glee as I struggled and forced down a whimper. He giggled, stepping forward as his dagger sliced casually through the air. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Will you cut off your head too when I make it bleed?"

I drew in a deep breath. My severed hand throbbed in time with my heart, and I poured that pain straight into anger. My eyes blazed, and Unholy smoke wrapped around my body like a living aura.

"You’ll die if you come any closer."

My voice was calm steel, colder than ice.

The beastman stooped instinctively, tilting his head. An unconscious frown on his face, how could one sentence carry so much warning? His body reacted before his mind did.

"You think you can kill me.....!!"

Suddenly the sky flared with blue light. A glowing 5 appeared in the air and began to count down.

The beastman spun toward his platform. "Get out! Jump into the water!"

The two humans slaves jolted as if yanked by invisible strings. Their eyes widened as their bodies moved without their consent, and they leapt into the sea.

But it was already too late.

"I will remember you, human!"

’And so willI’ I thought, watching until blue light swallowed him and we varnished.

☆☆▪︎▪︎☆☆

It was the day after the test, and I was still on Floor 102. I wore a green jacket that Litha had teased me about, saying I only liked it because it matched my eyes. She wore a brown oversized shirt and baggy trousers, while Temur had on his usual outfit, complete with his white fur cloak.

"So this is the portal gate," I said, staring at it. It was my first time seeing one. "It’s impressive."

The gate was a massive column of blue light stretching endlessly into the heavens

Out of fifty thousand in Group A, only about three thousand survived. Some couldn’t even move on to the next floor yet as they were too badly wounded.

I wasn’t fully healed, and I wasn’t the only one. Temur had even more injuries than I did. Litha, annoyingly, was mostly unscathed and she never let us forget it.

"It really is," she said. "And this portal only lets you climb upward. If you want to go down, that’s a different one."

Even she looked strained. The mana density here was layered and woven so intricately that staring at it too long gave her headaches.

"Wow," I muttered.

Government officials surrounded the area, guards armed and alert, watching every Awakener like a potential criminal. They checked the small red crystal necklace around each person’s neck as the proof of passing the floor test, before letting them through.

They weren’t Ascendants, but some were silver ranks who’d climbed as far as their power allowed. We stayed well clear of those, especially when their auras brushed against us.

Eventually, we reached our turn in the long queue. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"So it begins."