Chapter 48: Target Rich Environment

Lying down on the ledge that overlooked the Depths’ recreation of a lost dwarven city, Kaius focused his gaze on the creature that lounged at its highest heights. He had to know more. Eagle Eye had more to give, but his eyes already felt like he was trying to look through vinegar. The less that was said about his headache, the better.

It was a Guardian, he knew it. With how little success that they had had searching for the one in the Overgrown Caves it was most likely to be the one they were destined to face. Learning as much as he could about the beast was vital. Even if it would be agonising.

He further released the grip he had held on Eagle Eye since he had received the skill. The Guardian slammed into full relief. The visual detail felt like a branding iron burning its way into his skull. Kaius choked back a scream, grinding his teeth together with a creak.

**Ding! Eagle Eye has reached level 10!**

The level up brought the faintest hint of relief, like a single one of the thousand blacksmiths who pounded on his temples had gotten bored and stopped.

Previously he had only been able to tell the scale of the beast by comparing it to the pillars and statues that dotted the ritual plaza at the top of the city. In turn, they were roughly the same height as some of the smaller buildings situated on the previous tier of the city.

**Ding! Eagle Eye has reached level 11!**

The Guardian came up to roughly half of the column’s height. Considering that the ‘small’ buildings in the richly ornate city quarter below were three stories tall, the Guardian must have been easily thrice Kaius’s height.

**Ding! Eagle Eye has reached level 12!**

An escalating stab of pain caused Kaius to scrunch his eyes closed with a groan.

“Kaius..your eyes.” Porkchop said.

“Huh?” Kaius wiped at the tears that had been pooling. Pulling his hand back he saw they were streaked in red. He saw every line in his palm. The way the surface tension of his blood pulled it in narrow lines down the minute channels.

Kaius frowned. “I should have noticed my Health draining..” he muttered through the fugue of the mental load of his skill. It had activated, he realised. Even now it was suffusing his eyes, fixing the damage his skill was doing. It was minute, a small enough trickle that he hadn’t noticed it through the tidal wave of visual information he was being inundated with.

He shook his head, turning back to the Guardian. This was important. If the drain on his Health was this low it wasn’t doing any serious harm, it didn’t even come close to outstripping his regeneration. Pain was just free training for Rapid Adaptation anyway.

“Maybe you should take a break.” Porkchop said, looking at him with concern.

“No.” Kaius shook his head. “I’m fine, it’s good training. Give me another minute or two and I’ll tell you what I’ve learned.”

Turning back to the dwarven fortress city, Kaius refocused his gaze on the Guardian. Letting his skill ramp back up to full power. The immediate spike of pressure in his head drawing a wince from him.

Bound in rippling muscle, the creature’s skin was thick and craggly. Not quite scaled, but it still looked like it would turn a blade as well as any leather armour. Now in full detail, the club it wielded was clearly a rough hewn tree trunk, slightly whittled down to a grip at one end. Crude spikes had been hammered in. It was a savage thing, something that would paste him in a single blow. He doubted even heavy-plate would do much.

He’d seen it like before, but never so large. Some kind of troll or ogre. His only encounter had been from a distance. When a lesser cousin of the Guardian had wandered down from the mountains that cut off the deep Sea from the rest of the forest. Father had said it must have been starving, as they usually avoided areas of low mana. He still remembered the way his father had dismantled it. Carving it to pieces as it tried to squash him with a boulder that must have weighed as much as an ox. Bloody thing had taken hours to die, even after it had spent its Health.

Kaius doubted the Guardian would be any different.

**Ding! Eagle Eye has reached level 13!**

Now that he was paying attention, he felt the drain on his Health ramping up with every second he kept his skill at full strength. It had dipped notably with his level up, as had the throbbing ache in his head, but it wasn’t enough to outstrip the damage he was accumulating. He needed to finish up his scouting fast.

He focused on the Guardian, trying to Identify it. It took a force of will for him to get the skill to work. While the skills description didn’t mention a distance limit, it seemed to have one all the same. Spiking his agony as he stretched the skill.

With a ding, a notification sprung into his face.

??? – Level ?:

???, ???, ???

**Ding! Identify has reached level 4!**

**Ding! Identify has reached level 5!**

**Ding! Eagle Eye has reached level 14!**

**Ding! Rapid Adaptation has reached level 18!**

The backlash hit him, driving into his brain like an iron spike in spite of his pain resistance. Kaius let out a cry of pain, slamming his eyes shut. He tried to tamper Eagle Eye back down to a manageable level, but he struggled to focus through the fugue of his overworked mind. Even with his eyes closed, he could see the trace amounts of light shining through his lids. Highlighting the delicate blood vessels that spiderwebbed through the delicate membrane.

“Kaius! That’s enough. Turn off the skill.” Porkchop growled in concern, nosing at him.

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“I’m trying.” Kaius ground out, gritting his teeth.

He reached out again, strangling his skill. Damping the overwhelming sensations. Slowly, ever so slowly, his vision dimmed. Reducing to a level where he no longer felt like every slight flick of his eyes would make him through up.

Sighing in relief he pushed himself up, shuffling back from the edge of the ledge.

“Okay, that didn’t exactly go how I wanted it to, but I learned a lot.”

“Didn’t exactly go how you wanted it to? Kaius, you looked like you had gotten into a staring match with a basilisk. Eyes should not bleed like that.” Porkchop said, punctuating his last sentence by nipping Kaius in the ear.”