The Systemic Lands

Chapter XXV – Day 422 – Fighting A Level 4

It had been quite a hassle to build up my army again, but I had. It was just a matter of time, patience, and using up the arrivals when they showed up. The great pulsing red worm monsters to the Southeast of the East Bastion had been quite a useful find. Replacing my lost were-elephants.

Their size combined with their ability to resist all skills was just as good as my metal hybrids. The worms were better off as summons, since the size of the monsters was the their main selling point. They could tank a lot of damage. The pulsing red colored ones, would be able to resist skills.

The metal hybrids were a disappointment. They didn’t have the complete immunity the original monsters had. Something about the hybridization process weakened them. Still, they were useful, my metal men to tank damage and perform human sized tasks.

I had been investigating all the interesting buildings inside the East Bastion. Getting my hands on the Processing Rod had opened my mind up to the types the Astrologer had talked about. My progress in mapping out the type chart was not as fast as I wanted, but I was getting close.

I had worked out that force-solid, was the counter to fluidic-melt. I had come across brown level 3 skeletons to my North and had used them for hybridization. Humans with no mind, but an enhanced skeleton that could resist Michael’s acid. Even in combat, they wouldn’t die unless enough bones were broken or completely dismembered.

Each time period after the arrival I would explore and build up my stash of crystals to use for testing out hybridizations. I would return and use consumption to force people to the stats needed to make them high level hybrids.

A tricky process, I had long since perfected. I would cut off their hands and feet, tying off the stumps so they didn’t bleed to death. I didn’t want them to get ideas about escaping and the hybridization process would fix them right up.

Then I would force feed them pieces of raw meat. If they gagged or tried to not eat, well that was what I had my summons and hybrids for. I force the food down their throat. It always got harder near the end, but they tended to go comatose so I could easily force feed them. Sure a couple died, but it didn’t matter.

Those people would make hybrids, would some going to feed the next iteration of hybrids. A prosperous cycle for all those involved, and my methods had only become more refined. I had 535 level 3 hybrids at my command.

The sheer number of attacks I could leverage was astronomical. There would be nothing to stop me. I had been exploring the edges of the various level 3 zones looking at the level 4 zones. The mushrooms were too much like the mist, and to be avoided.

The jungle and the darklands were both possibilities. I went directly South of the East Bastion and was intent on probing a level 4 zone for the first time. I deployed my great pulsing red worm summon first. I felt a stabbing pain once it reached the jungle. Even though it was only a summon the attack that had hit it was immense.

All my hybrids scanned the air and the ground. That was when a small bunny with a horn on its head burst out of my summon, that was two bus lengths long. My mental attack units instantly targeted the small monster. It was the size of a regular bunny and incredibly fast. Its fur was a soft brown and its horn was a muted white.

The uni-bunny instantly turned towards me and shot forwards. One of my metal men was in its path. The horn struck and gored my monster. My skeletons stabbed at the monster with the enchanted spears I had made for them from my forays into crafting.

The attacks only left small scratches, that dripped a bright red blood. The uni-bunny twisted its head and my metal man went flying away. My living armor hybrids were already in place and stabbing at the uni-bunny.

The uni-bunny went for me again and another metal man was broken. In this time the level 4 monster was taking more and more damage. After killing two more metal men, trying to get to me, it collapsed to the ground and turned to dust. I had a monster quickly grab the crystal, before it could fall in between the boulders.

That had been hectic, but not as bad as I had thought. My great worm summon suddenly turned to dust. There were two uni-bunnies zipping across the boulders towards my army. I quickly began to retreat as the two level 4 uni-bunnies targeted me.

I wore down these two uni-bunnies as I kept moving away from the level 4 zone. But after the two were dusted and crystals collected, four uni-bunnies were headed right for me. The jungle zone was completely out of sight.

The level 4 monsters kept trying to go right for me. One by one, I killed them all. I waited, but thankfully there was no attack of eight uni-bunnies this time. My metal men were decimated. I would need to go back to that zone and restock up on those crystals to make more.

Their defenses had been impressive. Now was the time to attempt a level 4 hybridization. I had kept one person bound and alive for this very purpose. I had pushed the consumption to the very limits of 750 stat points across the board. They still had access to the store, but any more consumption and they would risk losing that access. Not that it mattered, but it was a good benchmark for my first test.

I left the level 3 zone, it was too risky to attempt something like this on the boulders and stopped in the level 2 deadlands just to my North. I had already prepped the blood power from the level 4 crystals I had collected with my own blood.

It was a minor thing, but using my own blood enhanced my control. While not something I did for any hybrid or summon, beyond the ones that carried me personally, it was a worthy investment for a level 4 hybrid. I had bled myself before leaving the East Bastion and the blood was still fresh enough.

I forced the person to drink an excessive amount of blood powder. Raw, just the way it should be. Then I forced a level 4 crystal down their throat. I primed the hybridization process and moved away. I was taking no chances. While the Astrologer had been dismissive and I didn’t fully believe him, that was no reason to be stupid.

I activated the primed crystal and felt the process begin to take place. The tether was there. Energy flowed to the hybrid as it came into being. A horn started to grow out of the person’s head. Paws and fur also began to emerge.

That was when it went wrong. “Ahhh!” I let out a shout of pain as a headache lanced through me. The tether snapped to the level 4, and I almost lost control of all my hybrids at that moment. The hybrid had become deformed. Instead of a singular paw, it was like three merged togeather on its right hand. The horn was crooked. The fur patchy and falling off.

The hybrid let out a long-pained groan and then burst apart into blood and viscera like a balloon popping. Chunks rained down on the ground where the deformed hybrid once stood.

That was unexpected. This required more testing and research. I grinned slightly. A level 4 hybrid was possible, there were just more requirements I had to figure out first.

Well time to replenish my army and consider my options. Perhaps the uni-bunny had not been the best choice. I had time, since every day I kept growing stronger in power and knowledge. My control was becoming more refined. Just the fight with the level 4 monsters, I felt I had made some progress with my coordination.

No longer would I have to group up monsters so much. I needed to be able to multi-attack a high level target from multiple angles. Uday had shown that, and these level 4 monsters reaffirmed the idea. When Michael and I met once more, he would be in for an unpleasant surprise.