<h4>Chapter 33: Beasts and Bloodshed</h4>


    Ss realized he hadn''t received a notification in quite some time. He checked the icon in the upper right corner of his vision, and he had 50 notifications!


    Opening them up, he saw that most of them were hp loss notifications from his fight with Damien, but a couple caught his eye. One said [You have survived death! +2000 exp].


    Another said [You have reached Level 10! Would you like to evolve?]. Evolving probably would change his appearance more drastically thanst time. After some consideration, he decided to wait until he was alone to evolve.


    * * *


    Ss ckwood''s eyes widened as he noticed a group of students running towards them across the open field. Behind the fleeing students, a horde of magical beasts stampeded, their thunderous hooves shaking the ground.


    "Iing!" Ss shouted, readying his war hammer. "Looks like those idiots started a stampede!"


    Jace, Rowan, Nadia, and Lyra quickly fell into formation, their weapons at the ready. The beasts closed in, their eyes wild with panic and rage.


    "We need to fight our way through," Ss said, his voice steady despite the impending danger. "And take out as many as you can. We need those mana cores."


    Jace nodded, his hands already moving in the intricate patterns of his duplication magic. Within seconds, a phnx of piled up Jace duplicates stood before them, forming a living barrier.


    The stampede hit the wall of Jaces, splitting around the obstacle like water around a rock. Beasts tumbled and fell, their momentum broken by the unexpected barrier.


    Lyra seized the opportunity, her hands weaving aplex spell. A shimmering portal appeared before the stampeding beasts, its edges crackling with arcane energy.


    With a flick of her wrist, Lyra opened a second portal, this one a hundred feet in the air. The beasts, unable to stop their charge, plunged through the first portal and fell to their deaths from the second.


    Nadia, her bow singing with each shot, rained arrows down upon the beasts. Her aim was true, each arrow finding its mark in the creatures'' vital points.


    Ss and Rowan waded into the fray, their weapons shing in the sunlight. Ss''s war hammer crushed skulls and shattered bones, while Rowan''s sword and shield worked in perfect harmony, cutting down beast after beast.


    Ss ckwood surveyed the carnage, his chest heaving with exertion. The once-thundering stampede had been reduced to a scattered collection of lifeless bodies, their blood staining the trampled grass.


    "Good work, everyone," Ss said, wiping the sweat from his brow. "Now, let''s get those mana cores."


    The group moved methodically through the fallen beasts. Ss knelt beside a massive, tusked creature, its eyes zed in death. With a precise motion, he plunged his hand into the beast''s chest, his fingers seeking the pulsing core within.


    As he extracted the core, Ss performed essence extraction on it, gathering its essence in the machine in his chest. Each core he harvested brought him one step closer to his goal, one step closer to freeing his mother.


    Jace and Rowan worked side by side. Jace''s duplicates swarmed over the fallen beasts, their hands darting in and out with practiced efficiency. Rowan, his sword now sheathed, used his shield as a makeshift tter, stacking the extracted cores in neat rows.


    Lyra moved with a different kind of grace. Each time she extracted a mana core, it vanished into the depths of her pocket dimension, stored safely forter use.


    Nadia, ever practical, had produced arge sack from somewhere within her gear.


    She moved from beast to beast, plucking the cores from their chests and dropping them into the sack with a businesslike efficiency. Her eyes, sharp and calcting, scanned each core for ws before she moved on to the next.


    As they worked, the field around them began to shimmer with the residual magic of the extracted cores. Ss could feel it thrumming in the air.


    Ss ckwood squinted at the horizon, his keen eyes detecting a plume of smoke rising in the distance. The dark, billowing column stood in stark contrast against the clear blue sky, a foreboding sign of trouble brewing.


    As Ss and hispanions exchanged concerned nces, the sound of hurried footsteps drew their attention. They turned to see Professor Tiffany Umbercrowe approaching, her face etched with worry and urgency.


    "Students," Tiffany called out, her voice carrying across the open field. "I''m afraid I have grave news. A nearby vige is under attack by goblins and ogres."


    "How far away is the vige?" Ss asked.


    Tiffany pointed towards the rising smoke, her expression grim. "It''s not too far, but we must act quickly. The longer we dy, the more lives will be lost."


    Ss nodded, his grip tightening on his war hammer. He nced at hispanions, seeing the same determination and resolve reflected in their eyes. They knew what had to be done.


    "We''re ready, Professor," Ss said, his voice steady and unwavering. "Lead the way."


    As the group set off towards the besieged vige, Ss''s thoughts turned to the challenges thaty ahead.


    Goblins and ogres were formidable foes, known for their brutality and savagery in battle.


    The smoke grew thicker as they approached, the acrid scent of burning wood and thatch filling the air. The sounds of distant screams and shing weapons grew louder.


    With Tiffany leading the charge and his friends at his side, Ss ckwood marched towards the embattled vige.


    As Ss, hispanions, and Tiffany reached the besieged vige, the sight that greeted them was one of utter devastation and horror. Most of the buildingsy in ruins, their walls crumbling and roofs caved in.


    The air was filled with the acrid stench of smoke and the coppery tang of blood, a nauseatingbination that assaulted Ss''s senses.


    Screams of terror and agony echoed through the streets as the surviving vigers fled for their lives, pursued by the relentless horde of goblins and ogres.


    Ss watched in horror as the monstrous creatures caught up to the fleeing vigers, their crude weapons slicing through flesh and bone with sickening ease.


    The goblins and ogres seemed to revel in the carnage, their twisted faces contorted with glee as they feasted upon the fallen, tearing into the still-warm bodies with ravenous hunger.


    Amidst the chaos, a figure caught Ss''s eye - a fire sprite, darting from building to building, its manicughter ringing out as it set each structure aze with a mere touch of its fiery hands.


    The mes spread rapidly, consuming everything in their path and adding to the suffocating smoke that choked the air.


    Ss knew that he had to act fast if he hoped to save any of the remaining vigers. He answered yes to the system''s question asking him if he wanted to evolve.


    Pain exploded through Ss''s body as the transformation began, his flesh and bones shifting and twisting.


    He felt his skin harden and thicken, ck scales erupting along the sides of his face, down his neck, and across his body.


    His spine elongated, forming a powerful tail that thrashed behind him, while fins emerged from his back.


    The agony of the transformation was unlike anything Ss had ever experienced before, far more intense and disorienting than the first time he had undergone such a change.


    He gritted his teeth, fighting back the urge to scream as his body was reshaped by the arcane forces that flowed through him.


    When the pain finally subsided, Ss stood tall, his new form radiating an aura of raw power and primal ferocity.


    [You have evolved into a human/leviathan youngling]


    [Your physical stats have increased]


    [New affinity acquired: Hydromancy]


    With a roar that shook the very foundations of the ruined vige, Ss ckwood charged forward, his war hammer held high, ready to meet the monstrous horde head-on and put an end to their reign of terror.


    Hispanions followed close behind, their own weapons at the ready, prepared to fight alongside him until the bitter end.


    Ss and hispanions tore through the horde of goblins with ruthless efficiency.


    Jace''s duplicates swarmed the smaller creatures, overwhelming them with sheer numbers and a flurry of stabbing des. The goblins'' screeches of pain and surprise filled the air as they fell to the relentless assault.


    Rowan''s voice rang out, summoning his stegosaurus familiar, Steggy. The massive creature materialized in a sh of light, its spiked tail swinging in wide arcs.


    Goblins flew through the air, their bodies broken and battered by the powerful blows.


    Lyra darted in and out of her shimmering portals, appearing behind unsuspecting goblins to deliver swift, lethal strikes with her rapier. Her movements were fluid and graceful, each thrust finding its mark with deadly precision.


    Nadia''s bow sang as she loosed arrow after arrow, each shaft wreathed in brilliant light. The arrows pierced goblin skulls with ease, leaving smoldering holes where they struck. The air crackled with energy as she continued her barrage.


    Ss, his new leviathan form radiating power, wielded his war hammer with terrifying strength. Goblin skulls shattered beneath the weapon''s mighty blows, their bodies crumpling like ragdolls.


    As the group carved a path through the goblin horde, they encountered a towering ogre. The creature''s massive bulk and thick hide presented a far greater challenge than the goblins they had faced.


    Nadia reacted quickly, loosing a volley of light arrows at the ogre''s face. The projectiles found their mark, exploding in brilliant shes that temporarily blinded the beast.


    Seizing the opportunity, Lyra conjured a portal beneath the ogre''s left leg. The limb sank into the shimmering opening, throwing the creature off bnce.


    With a deft motion, she opened the other end of the portal near the ogre''s head. The beast''s own leg swung up, delivering a powerful kick to its face.


    Rowan, seeing the ogre''s disorientation, summoned a swarm of flying imps. The tiny creatures descended upon the ogre in a chittering cloud, biting and wing at its face. The ogre roared in frustration, swatting ineffectually at the swarming imps.


    Ss, his blood singing with the power of his berserker rage, charged forward. With inhuman strength, he grasped the ogre''s trapped leg and heaved.


    The massive creature was lifted off the ground, its bulk no match for Ss''s enhanced might. With a primal roar, Ss mmed the ogre into the earth, the impact shaking the ground beneath their feet. He repeated the brutal action, each thunderous crash weakening the once-formidable foe.