Chapter 85 Envy! (5) The figure of Rowan fell from the air, dropping for hundreds of feet before landing on the ground on a single knee, at this moment he was nothing but a golden skeleton, but he was alive, the Axe he held was still burning with a green flame that was slowly dying out. As he was standing from his knees, his flesh seemed to bubble out of thin air, and the moment he stood up, he was whole again. The Ouroboros skin barely survived the detonation from the Axe, so thankfully he was not naked. At least, some things are not breaking down on me yet. Behind him, a small mountain stirred, it was the broken body of the Abomination. The entirety of the top of its head had disappeared, leaving only a black smoking jawbone, barely held together by small charred gristle and sinews, the rest of its body was no better. As he watched, the remnants of the Abomination's body began to collapse into Ash, of all three of its arms, two had disappeared entirely, the last arm could barely support the lamp that held a sputtering flame. The green flames from the Axe seemed to carry an incredible corrosive nature, even his bones that he felt should be twice as tough as diamond had felt a little brittle before his recovery made them whole again. With the amount of damage he had inflicted on this creature, he expected to have collected its soul, and indeed he had touched its soul deeply when he struck with the Axe, but he could not pull it out of the body. It was like he was a child trying to uproot a giant oak with his bare hand, the soul of the creature seemed to have developed an inconceivable weight. It did not take long for Rowan to realize that it was his Spirit Attribute. It was now simply too low for the beings he was currently fighting. Of all the creatures he had killed, he doubted if any of them had a higher Spirit Attribute than him, but things were clearly changing. He should slowly reevaluate his decision for not upgrading the Soul Reaver Bloodline, after all, without its ability to make most of the wounds he inflicted, instantly fatal, his offensive ability would be cut down by a large percentage. Yet, he still felt a deep aversion to this bloodline, and he would upgrade it until he understood more about bloodlines and how the whole freaking power system worked. He would rather not make a mistake concerning a bloodline such as this one. If that meant he would lose a powerful weapon presently, then so be it. Besides, he knew it was because his insane rate of growth had warped his views on how a Dominator was supposed to grow. Soul Reaver could already grow his Spirit passively, and its increments were not small, but since he was used to collecting hundreds of points in attributes in one sitting, he had become especially greedy for quick progress. Well, against the sort of enemies he faced and the plans they had for him, he did not think his greed was a particularly bad thing, he thought. Rowan felt a spiritual wave begin to blow past him into the body of the fallen Abomination, and the red flames that were about to die, began to regain their glow. Was this spiritual wave Aether? Even though he could not control this stuff yet, his senses could recognize it, and unlike him, with an inexhaustible vitality, this Abomination apparently required it to heal its grievous wounds. Rowan shrugged, if one blow won't kill it, he would use a dozen, if that won't do, then a thousand. He just had to get used to killing with more than one blow at this time. He could live with that! Rowan lifted the Axe, and as he was about to move to finish the job, he heard the voice of the Abomination Core in his ears, as if it was by his side, whispering to him. Rowan would not lie. That freaked him out a bit. "Greetings, Spawn of the Stars. I would advise you not to kill that child." Rowan arched an eyebrow, the battle had not yet quelled his burning blood, and it was all he could do not to give her the middle finger, not that she would know what that meant anyway, but it was the thought that counted. Instead, he just said, "Hold that thought." Walking up to the lamp that was getting brighter, he poured Essence into the Axe, the green flame brightened, and from the jaws of the fallen Abomination, he heard a decrepit whisper… "I stand before your throne, Mother. Defeated." Rowan swung down with his Axe, concentrating all his Essence to meld the green flame around the weapon. The Axe slammed against the lamp with a loud bang, as cracks began spreading all over it. Two more blows shattered the lamp, a long wail escaped from the shattered lamp, and whatever power was keeping the last of the Abomination together vanished, as it collapsed into ash. A tongue of red flame the size of an apple, rose from the shattered lamp, and it was flickering, as if it was about to go out, an intense wave of Soul Power filled his body and looking at the sputtering red flames, he perceived a call from the dying flame, and he held out his left hand, the red flame like a lost lamb returning to the arms of the shepherd, drifted and settled on his palm where it began burning with a bright red glow. Rowan noticed that it fed on his vitality to maintain itself, but the consumption was inconsequential to him, and as the red flames on his left hand bloomed bright, the green flames on his Axe held with his right hand vanished. He heard a sigh from the Abomination core, "Thank you, Spawn of the Stars. I would have paid a heavy price for this boon you have freely given me." Rowan had barely processed the meaning of her words when the Axe he held suddenly shook violently in his hand, and for the first time he distinctly felt the emotions from the weapon. It was a jubilant emotion that came from the weapon, it was as if, it had let go of a burden that had been crushing it for a long time, the Axe began letting out long hums of satisfaction that were so powerful, that Rowan felt his bones begin to ache. With his current physique, it was remarkable that he could feel this level of discomfort from what was literally just the Axe purring in satisfaction. Rowan felt a prick in his palm, as the handle of the Axe sent a wave of mental energy, it seemed the weapon wanted to communicate with him, he thought about it for an instant, and decided to accept it. His sight was covered instantly by a vision. The vision transpired in less than a second, but he had spent a long time inside of it, bringing the Axe to his face, he saw a line of words appears around the hilt, and he recalled the vision again. The vision was like a long dream. The dream began as he felt all dreams do in this world, with claws, screams, and fire and the laughter of cruel gods. He saw himself as a mortal, and he nearly cringed in shock, when he noticed the weakness of his flesh. How could I have ever been this fragile? Using one hand, he poked his biceps and abs, and feeling the tenderness of his muscles made his face whitened. He touched his chest and felt his heartbeat. So weak!