The Shattered we killed during the next two hours were spared the humiliation of getting disabled before being turned into experimental subjects by virtue of being part of larger groups. It seemed like they were congregating, instinctively forming groups, even if they didn’t do more than shamble about the streets. Their actions were weird, seemingly completely without any rhyme or reason and I wondered how they acted during the light of day. But that confusion didn’t stop me from happily killing them by the dozens, each kill a tiny step on my path to greater power.

I considered disabling the last Shattered standing but it was simply not feasible to do so in the shifting tides of a fight. Most of the time, Silva had to engage the attacking Shattered to keep them from going for me, while I tore through them with my Frozen Shuttle. The fights were quite profitable in the EXP department, netting me another level and bringing me to eight, but skill-wise, it wasn’t too great. Maybe the problem was that I had been clobbering Shattered to death with my Ice Magic for two days now, without much in the way of variety.

During my prowling through the night, I stumbled across a theatre costume shop and was now in the process of stalking the streets around it in a bid to secure the location. Noticing that one of the Shattered was all on its own, I decided to disable this one, too, and get some more experimentation done. Not only did I need to continue levelling up my Darkness Rune Mastery, I also needed to get some progress on my Blood Magic and, to a lesser degree, my Blood Rune Mastery. All of those were, at least initially, best when applied to a disabled for, or, in the case of Blood Rune Mastery, used to heal others. But given that I had no interest to see Silva hurt or search for wounded survivors to offer them healing in an attempt to train my skill, so using it on downed Shattered was my best bet.

Cutting the legs out from beneath the Shattered was quite simple and a quick glance of Observe told me that I had struck gold, the Shattered was a nicely high level, at level six. It still made me wonder just how their levelling worked unless they were hunting survivors and getting a lot of kills. But if that were to be the case, there had to either be wounded or there was something odd going on, with their bodies being able to devour far more than they should be able to, giving them the ability to destroy the bodies of their prey.

Once the Shattered was crippled and its keening wail at getting Observed failed to drag additional foes into the area, I moved up, intent to carve into it. My attacks had left it lying on its stomach, the shoulders shattered and its arms flailing around uselessly, while crippled legs desperately tried to move it but it was all to no avail. I considered severing the spine of the next, but for now, I had work to do.

For a moment, I considered simply carving the same runes into its back, just to get some more levels into my Darkness Rune Mastery, but decided against it. There were more experiments to be done and those, too, would give me what I needed.

And it wasn’t like my current idea didn’t have Darkness Runes in it, it only focused more on the Blood Rune Mastery and Blood Magic. The Shattered tried to squirm, but I managed to carve into its back, a simple, runic triangle of two Blood-Runes and a single Devour-Rune. Placing a hand on the formation, I focused my magic, slowly channelling my power into it, while controlling the Effect. I didn’t just want to let the darkness Devour the vitality within the Shattered’s blood, I wanted to drain the Devoured power and use it for myself. Previous attempts to use Blood Magic on Shattered had been met with rather limited results but I hoped a proper, runic formation would make the difference. I wished for a nice Athame, but sadly, there was no way to get an enchanted blade, unless I made it myself. Or maybe found somebody else, but I highly doubted anyone had the skill to make one just yet.

Using Blood Magic on the Shattered was an odd experience. Thanks to the formation, the sensation of it trying to take the magic I was using to drain the Astral Power within its blood was greatly subdued, but it was still difficult. In my memories, the sensation had always been relatively effortless, at least if the target wasn’t struggling but now, it was more akin to dragging something through molasses, the process itself subject to heavy resistance. It felt weird, but given that there was no way for the Shattered to stop the process, other than more high-pitched screaming, I simply continued.

My ears perked up when I heard quick, shuffling movement and focused in the direction I heard it coming from, my hand lighting up with stolen power as I quickly created a runic formation of Ice, intent on disabling the approaching Shattered. The one I was currently working on was almost drained, so having another one would be quite useful.

The moment the lone Shattered tried to rescue its screaming friend, I activated Overflow, ripping the last rest of Astral Power out of the Shattered and leaving it a withered husk, while the power I had gained was immediately channelled into the formation I had prepared, a hailstone launching across the road and breaking yet another kneecap, sending the Shattered to the ground.

To my surprise, the Shattered continued dragging itself forward though from the looks of it, the focus of its urgency wasn’t on me, it was completely locked onto the now-dead Shattered that had screamed.

Taking a few steps to the side, keeping the growling Silva with me, I kept observing and even decided to Observe the new arrival. It was only level four, but beggars can’t be choosers and I was desperate for more experiment subjects, especially those delivering themselves to me.

My interest only went higher, when the Shattered continued on its path, still focused on its dead brethren For a moment, I wondered if there was some sort of Shattered society, that the living one might be trying to get to a friend or something but that idea died the moment the Shaterred got close. Instead of trying to ascertain the state of its friend, it simply flopped around next to the body, inhaling deeply, looking like some caricature of a junky that was getting the hit it so desperately needed.

When I felt a change in the flopping Shattered and noticed that its knee was somewhat mended, my interest was well and thoroughly roused. Had it somehow absorbed the Miasma produced by my Blood Magic? Out of interest, I Observe’d it again and now, it was level five.

Not certain what that particular piece of information meant, I simply used the Hailstone I had conjured before to break its limbs, crippling it just like I had crippled its friend and drained its power, too. There were no more approaching Shattered, so the drained power went into the beginning of a Shield, a simple square of Ice with a handle on one side, primarily so I could hold it, before using Ice Magic to control it if necessary. It would likely never be on the same level as the Frozen Shuttle, the basic effort made with the drained power was not even enough to make the system recognise it as an item, but it was a start.

That start, alongside the previous combat, was quite lucrative in terms of skill gains. Two points in Blood Magic, one in Blood Rune Mastery, one in Darkness Rune Mastery and one in Ice Magic, bringing them to three, six, eight and nine. All in all, a wonderful gain, especially with the new, confusing piece of information the Shattered had delivered.

They were levelling by absorbing Miasma, or maybe Vitality before it decayed into Miasma? I wasn’t quite certain, even on Mundus I hadn’t been able to fully comprehend the effects and methods involved, only learned to apply and work around them to some degree. But this was a new world and I wasn’t reckless enough to simply assume that everything would be the same, that seemed like a good way to get myself killed.

One of those minute differences I had noticed was that the runes didn’t quite look like I remembered them. Almost as if they were written in a different font, the change small but I was confident that it was there. But what it might mean, I had no idea.

Shaking my head, I focused on the store I had approached, using the Hailstone I had used to cripple the Shattered to break the window. It took a few strikes but by now, the Ice I was wielding was almost as hard as stone and I could put a lot more force behind it with my mind, than I would be able with my body, making such casual vandalism a piece of cake.

Careful not to cut myself, I moved into the store after giving it a few minutes, to make sure the produced noise didn’t attract additional trouble. Silva sadly couldn’t easily enter, not with shards of glass lying around, but she didn’t look too fuzzed about it, simply sitting in front of the broken window. Given that the store still had a sign outside, warning that dogs weren’t allowed inside, it made for a rather hilarious picture. Alas, I doubted anyone was around to take it and upload it to some social media.