Duskbound

Chapter 43

Velik froze in place and peered around, half-expecting his doppelganger to jump out from behind a tree and run him through. When that didn't immediately happen, he took a cautious step into the champion's domain. Usually, the monster announced its presence right away, with the only exception he knew of being that spider that had been a speedy ambush specialist.

What if this thing mirrors my own abilities? [Apex Hunter] folded [Stealth] into itself. Maybe it's stalking me.

That was an alarming line of reasoning, if only because he doubted that the monster would also mimic his equipment and that it wouldn't compensate in some other way. Thus far, he'd defeated every champion he'd come up against. By that logic, he was stronger than them. If this champion mimicked his stats, then it was the most powerful creature he'd ever faced.

That was a surprisingly sobering thought to contemplate.

But this all supposes I'm right about something pretending to be me in this domain. And... can it make a system message do that? Shouldn't it say what the monster's really called?

He figured he'd find out soon enough. Whether the monster was his twin or not, it would attack him eventually, and probably in the next minute. He strode through the trees, spear in hand and eye flicking between the twilight shadows. There were a thousand places a human could hide in any forest, and with trees so big that their trunks were three feet wide, it was as easy as simply stepping behind one in this place.

The soft, scraping sound of dried leaves being dragged across the ground came to him, and Velik spun to face that direction. For a moment, he imagined it to be a stray breeze rustling the detritus around a thin tree, but he immediately realized his mistake.

That's not a tree. It's got fur on it. It's... a leg, the size of a tree? What the...

It was the sleek, short black fur that confused him, so solid that in the evening shadows, it had taken him a moment to sort out that it wasn't just a smooth-bored tree. His eyes followed the limb up to a massive chest, easily twenty feet off the ground and covered with a much thicker ruff. The monster padded forward a step, coming out from behind the tree far enough for Velik to see its other leg.

How the fuck is that me?!

It was a great wolf, four times his height and probably twenty times his weight. Its eyes glowed red in the shadows and its mouth hung open to reveal teeth longer than his forearm. Those teeth were like shards of obsidian darkness, gleaming in the dying light. Well, I get the Black Fang part, at least. Makes more sense than it ever did for me.

Velik darted through the shadows, seeking to lead the wolf on a chase where it would get itself stuck, even if only for a moment. Pushing over a tree wasn't easy, not even for something close to thirty feet tall, and if it gave him an opening, Velik was going to take it.

He led it on a chase through the trees, but the wolf was smart enough not to wedge itself where it couldn't fit. It pursued him, all snapping jaws and savage nails raking deep gouges in the dirt as he dodged out of the way. The more they fought, the better a feel Velik got for its tactics and abilities.

I can win this. Just be patient. Don't make mistakes.

That was what he thought until the third time he looped around one particularly huge specimen of a tree. It was easily eight feet wide, big enough that not even the champion elite could knock it over. He must have frustrated his opponent, but it suddenly shifted focus. Instead of attacking Velik, it raked its nails across the tree's bole and left a line of burning acid scoring the bark.

It hissed and popped as it ate through the wood, and when the acid fizzled out a few seconds later, the tree had a noticeable chunk burned out of it. A few more hits like that might be enough to bring even it down.

Was that [Venom Slash]? It even has access to the same selection of class skills as me?

There were dozens of skills for [The Black Fang], and Velik assumed his counterpart had at least five skill slots. Not even looking at what it might have merged together, he could think of at least three other skills off the top of his head that he had no interest in being the target of.

A second [Venom Slash] scored the tree, prompting Velik to flee around its bulk. His spear trailed behind him, its head sharpened to a slashing edge and whipping around in a smooth arc the instant he sensed the wolf pivot to lunge at him. The wolf caught it between two teeth, jerking Velik to a halt and forcing him to either abandon the weapon or let himself get pinned.

Neither was an acceptable option, so he created a new one. [Phalanx] roared to life, four phantasmal spears appearing to surround him. They wouldn't be strong enough to block an attack, not from this champion, but they were flashy enough that when they dove straight for the wolf's eyes, it jerked backwards.

Unfortunately, it didn't release the spear from its jaws. Velik tried to twist it to drag across vulnerable flesh, but the teeth clamped down on it were too tight. Giving that up, he activated the weapon's [Shape Shifting] to thin the head down in an attempt to slip it free.

That worked, but he knew he was in trouble the moment he took his first step away. One of the wolf's front paws was just to his left. Its teeth were feet from him; its hot breath rolled across his face. His phantasmal spears failed to penetrate even the relatively soft mass of the wolf's eyes, and Velik recognized the distinctive muscular pop of a familiar skill activating.

Before he could so much as take a second step, the wolf used [Serpent Strike]. Its neck stretched forward, jaws open, and its teeth closed down on Velik.