Chapter 17: Skurul Crawler

  The creature pulled itself free from the painting with a sickening, wet crack, as if the rotted frame had somehow given birth to it.

  Its slick skin shivered in the cold air, the snail-like stalks of its eyes swiveling unnaturally.

  Its hooked limbs scraped against the cracked stone floor, staggering at first like a newborn calf, but then it locked onto Sym with a strong, malicious killing intent.

  A predatory twitch rippled through its twisted body.

  Sym stood firm, holding the greatsword fully in his hands, the weight dragging slightly, but manageable.

  A soft ding echoed in his mind.

  A translucent screen fshed before him, pulled from Sage’s analysis:

  [Corrupted Entity Detected]

  Name: Skurul Crawler

  Level: 1

  Description: The nightmare of a twisted mind. It's fear of garlic, enough to make it cower, but with its nature, it loves to kill. Long-term exposure to areas where a Crawler has remained active may result in minor sanity penalties for non-awakened individuals with low mental resilience.

  ...

  Sym smirked grimly.

  He wasn't taking any chances.

  He inhaled sharply, centering himself.

  “Boost: Activate.”

  The world seemed to lighten around him as the pale blue aura rippled over his body, a soft, controlled bze of strength threading through every fiber of muscle and mind.

  The greatsword lifted lighter in his grip now, an extension of will.

  Sage spoke swiftly in his mind:

  “Combat simution prepared. Three primary engagement options are avaible: Option 1 involves a defensive parry and counterattack, with moderate risk. Option 2: Preemptive strike: risk high, reward high. Option 3: Kiting maneuver: risk low, possible stamina drain over time.”

  Sym’s lips twitched upward.

  Even now, standing before something vomited out of some forgotten madness, he had options and he had control.

  The creature hissed, a sound somewhere between a kettle screech and a drowning man’s st gasp, and lunged with a burst of twitching, desperate speed.

  Sym lowered his stance.

  Sword ready.

  The creature lunged forward, its body twitching with unnatural speed.

  Its hooked tail shed out in a violent arc. Sym twisted to the side just in time, feeling the rush of corrupted air graze his coat.

  He pnted his feet and countered, swinging the greatsword in a low arc, the bde hissing through the stale air, but the creature was agile.

  It dropped low, skittering sideways with spider-like reflexes, avoiding the blow by inches.

  It retaliated instantly, its hooked cws swiping for Sym’s face.

  Instinct, Sage, and training took over.

  Sym raised the bde, catching the strike along the ft of the sword, the impact rattling up his arms.

  “Tail incoming, left fnk!” Sage warned sharply.

  Without hesitation, Sym pivoted hard, ducking just as the tail whipped past where his skull had been a second before.

  In the same breath, he surged forward.

  The bde plunged into the creature’s chest with a wet crack.

  The Skurul Crawler shrieked, a horrible, warbling sound. Sym gritted his teeth, ignoring the noise, wrenching the sword sideways in a full, brutal ssh as Sage guided him.

  The bde tore through the creature's side, severing bone and bckened sinew, splitting it apart.

  The monster colpsed, twitching, a pool of dark ichor seeping into the cracked floor. The painting that leaned began to disintegrate into dust after the defeat of the creature.

  Sym stood over the corpse, breathing steadily, sword dripping with viscous blood. This was his first monster kill, one of many he hoped.

  “Did I get any experience for that?” he asked, voice dry.

  “Confirmed. Minor experience gained. Insufficient for level advancement.”

  Sym smirked despite himself.

  "Figures."

  But then, a faint, pulsing light caught his eye.

  Within the torn-open chest cavity, something glowed.

  A shard the size of a pebble was slightly revealed. It was smooth, crystalline, and radiated a soft, internal light like a heartbeat.

  Sage immediately chimed in:

  “Energy signature detected. Likely a crystallized system fragment. High instability potential. Handle with care.”

  Sym approached cautiously, stepping over the corpse’s twitching remains.

  He reached into the creature’s broken body and pulled the crystal free.

  It was cold, unnaturally so, and hummed faintly in his grip, vibrating with a frequency he could feel more than hear.

  He tightened his fingers around it.

  Sym turned the crystal slowly in his palm, feeling its faint pulse beneath his fingers.

  "Sage. Analyze it."

  A soft chime sounded in his mind, followed by a translucent screen fshing into existence before him:

  [Item: Experience Crystal]

  Grade: None

  Description: Grants substantial experience upon absorption. Single-use.

  ...

  Sym blinked once.

  Experience, compressed into a crystal. Was this the true experience that one could gain from a kill?

  Much more than what he had earned from the creature itself.

  His heart thudded with realization.

  No wonder the Order was obsessed.

  Without hesitation, he focused his will and activated the crystal.

  A surge of otherworldly heat flooded his body.

  The crystal dissolved into radiant streams of light, pouring into his muscles, his bones, his mind, setting every fiber of him abze with a feeling beyond strength, beyond hunger, beyond mortality.

  For a moment, he shone in the darkness like a fallen star.

  Then it faded.

  He staggered slightly, the aftershock humming through his nerves like a distant drum.

  He exhaled, steadying himself.

  “Level up?”

  “Negative,” Sage replied coolly. “Proximity to next threshold: 93%. Advancement imminent.”

  Sym let out a slow breath, a rare grin tugging at the corner of his mouth.

  So this was the truth the Order hid.

  It wasn’t just about fighting monsters. It wasn’t about "protecting the people." It was about harvesting power.

  Crystals like these, untapped, hidden, buried inside corruption-born creatures, could elevate anyone after consuming their crystals.

  Sym’s eyes narrowed.

  He wasn't na?ve.

  This wasn’t over.

  If Crazy Joe had set this up, then Crazy Joe might come back expecting an easy corpse to loot.

  Sym sheathed his sword quietly and moved to the shadows of the broken house, finding a spot half-shielded by debris.

  He crouched low.

  Sym waited, breath slow and even, watching the ruined doorway like a predator at the mouth of a cave.

  Let’s see who comes hunting.