Over the course of the last exchange, an idea had come to him—a way of getting close enough to land some heavy hits and take control over the momentum of the battle.

  Since it involved catching the big beast by surprise, Edge was only going to get one shot at this, and he couldn’t afford to fuck it up. He waited for an opening to appear and sprang into motion—every scrap of concentration focused on the pale predator looming before him.

  He Leapt onto the ice, sliding toward the gatekeeper while sending Foebinder reaching out to one side. As he had anticipated, the moment the colossal catfish realized he was heading its way, it turned its water drill on him, intending to cut him in half at the waist.

  By this point, the black chain had wrapped around a boulder sitting on top of one of the islands dotting the lake. At his signal, Foebinder pulled hard, dragging Edge out of the way of the attack at the last possible moment.

  He pushed against the flow with Repel Water, causing him to slide along the ice in time with the turning spray. The beast realized that it wouldn’t be able to hit him unless it paused long enough to reset its aim, which it did. The instant the water stopped, he Leapt off the island and straight for the gatekeeper. As he’d expected, it let loose a pulse of Repel Water, planning to toss him back and snipe him in midair—just like it had before.

  But this time, Edge was ready. Before the wave of mana reached him, he activated Shadow Step. While the mana-infused water could cut him in shadow form, the repulsive field was another matter. The skill couldn’t shove him back while his body was made of shadows instead of flesh and blood. By the time the beast realized something was wrong, it was already too late.

  He had pulled his naginata out of his vault during the approach. As he resolidified, he let loose with a fully flared, Elemental-Infused Double Slash that was bolstered by the momentum of his charge and the extra attributes from Warlord’s Mantle and Fear the Seasons. Combined with the damage bonuses from his Frostfury Medallion, Big Game Hunter, and Raid Wiper, the polearm sliced into the gatekeeper’s Durable scales like a hot knife through cream, biting deep into the tissue below.

  The twin blades cut the catfish all the way down to the bone, leaving rime-encrusted ruin in their wake. He shot past its tail half a heartbeat later, Repelling himself across the lake as he circled around for another pass.

  The beast turned to face him, just as a Vortex Shot hit its tail and a Flame-Imbued arrow pierced its eye. The pain of its wounds made the creature lose control of its body, swerving onto the frozen section of the lake as it spasmed and thrashed. It went barreling through the ice, half-swimming, half-sliding until it collided with the rocky perimeter with a bone-shaking thud.

  Mel was standing near the site of the crash. The guardswoman took advantage of the opportunity to land a heavy hit of her own. She took aim for where a patch of scales had been torn free from Lilly’s Vortex shot, then unleashed skill combo by using Force Cleave and Rend at the same time.

  Force Cleave coated her axe in a field of mana, extending her reach and lengthening the edge. Rend transformed the clean cuts the weapon normally inflicted into ragged tears—flesh adhering to the blade before falling away.

  The powerful slash left a bleeding gash behind, taking the beast one step closer to death. Unfortunately, the attack had given the lampreys time to surround the courageous guardswoman—converging from both sides of the rocky rim. Left with no other choice, she leapt onto the ice, struggling to keep her balance as the horde followed behind.

  Lilly let loose with a barrage of Scattershots, forcing the bloodsuckers away from Mel and causing considerable damage in the process. Mel went sliding out of the swarm’s reach, but before she reached the far side, the ice began breaking up beneath the force of the gatekeeper’s thrashings. She almost fell through before Sasha darted over and extended her spear. The deputy grabbed hold with one hand, and Sasha pulled her onto the rocks.

  The women exchanged a fist bump, and Mel ran back into range of her Swapping rock before turning to engage the closest lampreys. Edge didn’t get to see the next part of their battle because he was busy with his own. Now that the stage-three beast was critically wounded, he was ready to claim its life.

  As the catfish flopped into the water, he Leapt onto its back, where it couldn’t hit him with its drill. It was, however, perfectly capable of using the repellant field to shove him, which would have sent him flying under ordinary circumstances.

  The moment the beast ignited its core and flared Repel Water, he shifted into shadows then changed back and let loose. He dodged the next three pulses the same way, Slashing like mad whenever he was in solid form. He was burning through the last of his reserves, flaring Elemental Blade while landing blow after blow.

  Thanks to the creature’s mounting panic, Edge was able to get in more hits than he expected, freezing a fair chunk of the beast’s body. But nothing that had lived to reach stage three would die to such a simple ploy. The next time he turned into shadows, the catfish unleashed a Disruption surge instead, then hit him with Repel Water half a heartbeat later.

  When the repulsive field struck him, he went flying. He used Foebinder to arrest his momentum—almost breaking his arms in the process—then plunged below the surface a fraction of a second before the water drill hit him. The big fish came charging straight for him with murderous intent. It was eager to exact its revenge, end the fight, then nurse its wounds.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Before it could swallow him, he Repelled himself out of the way. He had Foebinder let go of the boulder and grab onto a fin, then mounted the fish once more. Before it could push him off, he used his subzero naginata to adhere his legs to the beast’s scales, flaring Regulate Temperature to prevent him from freezing his limbs solid in the process.

  By now, he had lowered the catfish’s core temperature dramatically, and the icy water was only making it worse. Even with its insane physical attributes, the beast couldn’t endure much longer. It no longer wanted to kill or to feast—only to survive.

  The fish began a steep dive, abandoning its swarm and retreating from the battlefield. Since he was stuck to it back, the move carried Edge along with it, sinking down toward the bottom of the lake.

  He could have cut his feet free and let it go, but that wasn’t in his nature—not after the gatekeeper had tried its best to kill his friends. It was hanging on by a thread, and he had no intention of giving up the experience, resources, and skills he would acquire from defeating it, which would help him survive his battle with the Crimson Claws.

  As the creature swam for the bottom of the lake, Edge pressed the attack. His reservoir was running on fumes, so he deactivated most of his skills and kept jabbing the tip of his polearm into the beast’s back. Its frantic Repels ravaged his tissue, but his ice kept him attached, and Regeneration prevented the damage from reaching a lethal level.

  The fish clearly expected him to give up—return to the surface before he drowned or was torn in half by the immense forces. However, while the situation was decidedly unpleasant, he wasn’t in danger of drowning after all.

  The reason was simple. Edge had picked up something in the Claws’ storeroom that he’d been thinking about ever since the battle began—a diver’s tank and mask. He visualized the items he wanted and retrieved them from his vault, using the trick he’d learned at the hot springs to automatically equip them.

  Once the tank was in place, he reached back and turned the valve, letting fresh air fill his lungs. By the time the gatekeeper reached the bottom of the lake, it realized its plan had failed. But by this point, it was too late to recover. It was bleeding out and chilled to the bone, and there wasn’t time to try anything else.

  Edge thought he saw something interesting as he floated past the entrance to an underwater cavern, but he couldn’t afford to worry about it now. His enemy was on the verge of death and vulnerable to Extraction, and it was time to claim its skills.

  Before the colossal fish perished, he reached out with both arms and bid the black chains to fly free. They emerged from his wrists and plunged into the beast’s core, carrying his mind along with them.

  He was surprised to find warm sunlight bathing his skin. The gatekeeper’s inner world wasn’t anything like the cavern where it lived. Instead of a massive underground pool, the beast’s core featured a gorgeous lake that sparkled beneath a cloudless sky. The water was full of life and animals made their home along the wooded shore.

  It seems I’m not the only one who’s a long way from home. You must have had quite an adventure to wind up in this place. Compared to its native environment, the gatekeeper’s lair was lonely and barren. It was isolated from others of its kind, and the host of bloodsucking lampreys was poor company at best. Edge felt bad for the blind beast, although it didn’t change what he had to do.

  While he took in the beautiful scenery, he ran his gaze across the creature’s skills. After evolving to stage two, he could sense their properties with greater clarity—even without acquiring a taste. There were quite a few avatars in here, but only three that he wanted.

  Now I understand why it was using such a narrow range of skills for a stage-three beast—most of its slots are filled with powers that let it survive in this lightless, lifeless environment.

  Since he already knew what he wanted to steal first, Edge gave the chains of oblivion their orders and watched as they chased down their prey.

  His first acquisition was a duplicate of a power he already had—Repel Water. Unlike the floating ball of water living in his core, the gatekeeper’s version was a surging spray shooting out from an endless well. Although they could grab any avatar regardless of its form, it took the chains a few minutes to subdue the high-rank power. After they yanked the skill out of the core and he removed his mask, Foebinder carefully set it inside his mouth so it didn’t swim away.

  At this point, Edge realized he had a problem. Water came gushing out of his lips, almost letting the avatar escape in the process. He quickly conjured his iceblade and shoved it between his teeth, freezing his lips in the process.

  When the skill solidified, he was able to chew it up. He started chomping like mad, racing to steal two more powers before the big beast died. It was one of the most potent flavors he’d experienced yet—fierce, wild, and free, with just a hint of citrusy zest. It conveyed an impression of pressure building and then sailing through the air—of biting deep into anything foolish enough to stand in his way.

  When the icy sludge reached his core, his eyes widened with surprise.

  You have extracted the skill: Repel Water (Uncommon, Rank 5).

  You already have this skill in your collection.

  Its experience will be added to your existing skill.

  Rank five. No wonder that blast was so strong. This is going to be even more rewarding than I’d hoped. Sure enough, when the beast’s version of Repel Water merged with his own, the avatar began to glow. The thrill of acquisition came over Edge when he realized that Absorbing such a highly ranked copy was enough to advance his skill to rank four all at once.

  This was the second time Edge had taken one of his skills to rank four, and he was eager to discover what would happen next. The upgrades would be more divergent than the rank-two set and could change the power’s behavior in a fundamental way.

  By the time he walked over to his village, Repel was shining so bright that he had to squint—packed to the brim with transformative energy. The avatar was so excited that instead of bobbing through the air, its water was surging round and round to form a floating whirlpool.

  His other avatars were cheering Repel on, occasionally jumping inside to spin like mad before flying across his inner world. Their antics made him laugh out loud, although he didn’t have time to linger. Even in this strange space where time ran slow, he had to work fast if he wanted to steal two more powers before the gatekeeper breathed its last.

  “Awesome job,” he praised the ecstatic avatar. “We’ll pick your upgrade in just a few minutes. You guys keep having fun, and I’ll be right back with some new friends to play with.”

  With that, he returned to his body and used another charge of Extraction—eager to find out what else was on the menu.