Lucius could feel his body constantly trying to call on his solar crux, but it would not come out. His solar energy reserves had been depleted, and with it, any chance of him healing.
**Enough Deruvon, you're injuring it too much. Any more, and its mind might collapse,** the smaller of the two beings said, before performing a 'go' gesture with its hands. With that, several tendrils extended from the green crux behind it and tried to wrap Lucius into a vyse.
His body reacted in kind, side-stepping and dancing around the tendrils as they shot toward him.
~Fuck,~ he grunted internally. His body didn't seem to care that his arms and legs were broken, as he dodged the attacks like nothing at all was damaged. Each and every step driving his internals further past their limits.
**Oi, what are you doing? I said it's mine. I found it first,** the bigger creature said, before flicking a finger. At that, the tendrils were completely disintegrated, and the smaller creature looked at its comrade with an irritated gaze.
**Okay, okay. I'll end this fast. But I still can't wrap my head around this creature. Why would it use a crux, while it seems to be versed in hand-to-hand combat? Of course, it's weak… and slow, but surely it's an augmenter and not a sorcerer,** the creature said as it held out its hands to grab Lucius.
Once again Lucius's body dodged the attack, but using his limbs in such a state came at a steep price. His 'bones' dug into his muscles, completely paralyzing his right leg, and left arm. And his ruptured organs had been shaken around, causing them to bleed out at an even faster rate.
Yet the presence that was controlling him didn't seem to care at all. It still attempted to call out the crux, and once its attempts failed several more times, it decided to try casting while the crux was still within his body. All the while he basically dragged himself to dodge the creature's bored attempts to catch him.
If the being in front of him really wanted to end this, it would've been over a long time ago.
No, the creature wanted a challenge. It stared at Lucius hoping that there was more to him, hoping that he would excite it before it had to go back to its mundane post. Like a human who found an odd-looking cat on its way back from work, hoping that the cat would excite it a little before it had to deal with its nagging wife at home.
But sadly, it was all for naught. Lucius's body collapsed under all the damage, and he lay completely drained on the ground.
~Give me back my body,~ he shouted, but his screams were but trapped thoughts. To die in a strange place, without even choosing how it would all end. Was this how he would go out?
**You killed it, you muscle-head!** the smaller of the beings shouted, running towards Lucius.
**Relax, it's not dead. I can still hear its internals. I'm sure the healers back in the cluster will be able to fix it up. Now let's get moving, the creature wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be,** the larger being said, already walking down the tunnel.
**Idiot,** the smaller one replied, before attempting to pick Lucius up.
As Lucius's body was lifted into the air, he felt something welling up inside of him. A painful sort of feeling, like something at his core was sizzling his ruptured innards. It seemed the thing that was controlling him wasn't finished just yet.
[Creating 『Radiant Augmentation Index』...]
[Creation complete.]
**Step back,** the bigger creature shouted suddenly, appearing right in front of Lucius in a flash. Blocking his attack right as it was about to land in the smaller creature's eye.
[Processing...]
[New technique acquired... 『Radiant Cowl』.]
[Adding 『Radiant Cowl』 to 『Radiant Augmentation Index』...]
[Complete. 『Radiant Cowl』 has been added.]
**Look, it learned how to augment,** the bigger creature said in excitement as it stared at Lucius.
Lucius's body was now covered in a thin layer of light. And though he was still in pain, it was like a pump of adrenaline had been shot into every fiber of his being.
Unbeknownst to him, thousands of tendrils spread from the crux at his core toward every inch of his body. Circulating what little radiant energy he had left to make one final attempt at fighting.
He ran at the bigger creature, now double the speed he could once move at, using only his right arm and left leg to achieve this.
He launched at the creature's eyes, aiming to gouge it with his claws. But the creature had grown accustomed to his attempts, and lazily swatted at him, as if disappointed.
However, that was not his intention. He used the creature's hand to vault himself toward its head, before accessing his skill tree and using 『Poison Secretion』 to secrete droplets of poison from his tail, thrusting it between the creature's scales.
And he almost made it…
No. There was never a chance.
The creature completely disappeared from the spot it had been just a moment ago. And Lucius felt his body completely crumble.
**Why did you do that? Now we'll never find it,** the smaller of the beings shouted, unable to believe why its partner was such an idiot.
**The creature was about to poison me**
**So you kicked it through a wall? You know that these tunnels change on their own,** the smaller being said, staring at the hole through which Lucius had just been launched through.
**Who decided on that anyway? Constantly changing tunnels? Sounds like a dumb idea to me,** the bigger being said, walking down the tunnel with a relaxed demeanor.
**Look, we'll search the forest later. Maybe there are more creatures like it. But it was no fun anyway, even the mutts from the Elron Federation are more exciting,** it added, scratching its head.
~I can't believe it managed to hit me,~ it thought to itself, already regenerating from the small dose of poison Lucius had managed to inject into it.
**Still, we're going to have to report this. A creature that can augment and cast at the same time? Not to mention that strange crux,** the smaller one said, before following its comrade.
*
Words could not describe the pain Lucius was going through. His body felt like mush, not a single thing was in its right place. The presence had left once he was out of danger, but it left him to deal with his injuries alone.
Frankly, he wasn't certain whether he would even survive. He was at the mercy of any creature that would pass by. He couldn't move, not even so much as open his eyes.
He fought to stay conscious, continuously circulating what little radiant energy he could replenish every second through his 'meridians'. The process seemed to dull the pain, if even by a small amount. And had minor healing properties.
Though a solar cleanse would probably have been a better solution, Lucius could tell that if he stopped circulating the little ounces of radiant energy, he would surely die.
He did this for hours on end, and many times he felt his mind about to slip away due to the pain. He spoke to himself to keep from losing consciousness and dying as a result, but this only pushed him closer to the brink of sanity.
~Riley?~ he thought to himself, seeing the image of one of his military buddies holding his hand out to him.
