Leorio the Shadow Monarch - Chapter 5
Chapter 5: Phase Two Feast & System Limits
The transition from the suffocating dread of the Numere Wetlands to the relatively open expanse of the Visca Forest Preserve was jarring in the best way possible. Sunlight, filtered through a high canopy or perhaps clever illumination simulating a sky, dappled the lush undergrowth. The air smelled clean, earthy, alive. Leorio took a deep breath, the oppressive weight of the swamp lifting from his shoulders, replaced by the thrumming energy of his newly acquired Level 30 status.
Satotz led the ragged column of survivors – significantly fewer than had entered Zaban’s tunnels – towards a designated clearing dominated by massive wooden gates and two waiting figures. He performed the introductions with his usual impassivity: Buhara, the mountain of a man whose calm aura felt disproportionate to his size, and Menchi, the pink-haired whirlwind of culinary intensity. Gourmet Hunters. Leorio remembered them well. This phase was infamous. After a brief farewell, Satotz departed, leaving the applicants in the hands of their new, and potentially far more terrifying, examiners.
Buhara stepped forward, his gentle voice a surprising contrast to his imposing frame. “Welcome, candidates, to the Second Phase. As Gourmet Hunters, our lives revolve around ingredients. Your first task involves acquiring a specific one.” He gestured broadly towards the surrounding forest. “Deep within this preserve resides the Great Stampede Pig. Your assignment is to hunt down and capture one per person.”
A wave of murmurs spread – recognition, apprehension. These pigs were legendary for their ferocity.
“Once you have captured your pig,” Buhara continued, rubbing his immense stomach, “You must roast it over a fire. The method is up to you.” He smiled faintly. “That is all. You may begin.”
Hardly had the words left his mouth when the ground began to vibrate. A low rumble escalated into a thunderous roar as a veritable tsunami of brown, bristly bodies erupted from the trees. The Great Stampede Pigs. They were enormous, easily dwarfing a large bull, their tusks gleaming wickedly, their small eyes burning with primal fury. They charged indiscriminately, plowing through the forest and the terrified applicants alike.
Chaos ensued. People screamed, scrambled, and were inevitably caught by the porcine tide. Leorio, however, stood firm for a moment, his Level 30 stats (STR 31, AGI 31, VIT 35, INT 33, SEN 32 after the Phase 1 completion boost) anchoring him. He wasn’t invincible, but he wasn’t helpless fodder either. He quickly assessed the situation.
First, his own resources. He checked his `[Shadow Preservation]` mentally. Cooldowns on his destroyed shadows (Ape and Imposter) had long since passed. His current roster: `[Shadow Frog Lv5]`, `[Shadow Ape Lv1]`, `[Shadow Imposter Lv1]`. Three soldiers total. He recalled their stats: the Frog was decently agile and vital but lacked hitting power; the Ape and Imposter were laughably weak, barely stronger than an average human, if that.
He watched a Great Stampede Pig effortlessly toss an applicant aside like a rag doll. He compared that raw power and sheer bulk to his shadowy trio. The conclusion was immediate and sobering. His current shadows were useless against these behemoths in direct combat. The Ape and Imposter would be annihilated instantly. The Frog might manage to dodge for a bit, maybe land a distracting bite, but it stood no chance of actually harming or stopping one.
System limitation clear, Leorio noted internally. My army’s quality is directly tied to the corpses I harvest. Level 1 trash mobs yield Level 1 trash shadows. Need better ingredients for a better army. Sending his current shadows out would be pointless suicide, a waste of the small AP needed to resummon them later.
Okay, plan B. The advantage he always had: foreknowledge. He vividly remembered Gon discovering the pigs’ weakness – the prominent bump on their forehead. Hit it hard, and they go down. Simple, elegant, and far safer than trying to wrestle a multi-ton slab of angry bacon.
Time to hunt smart, not hard. He activated `[Sprint Lv1]`, the 30% speed boost making the world seem slightly less chaotic. He dashed into the swirling melee, his enhanced Agility allowing him to weave between thundering hooves and snapping tusks. Close calls were numerous, the wind of near misses buffeting his suit jacket. He ignored the struggling applicants, focusing solely on finding an isolated target and the right opportunity.
He saw it: a pig slightly separated, charging towards a cluster of thick bamboo. Using his speed burst, he positioned himself near the bamboo grove. As predicted, the pig, unable to alter its trajectory quickly, slammed headfirst into the resilient stalks with a mighty CRUNCH. It stumbled back, visibly dazed, shaking its massive head.
Now! Leorio deactivated [Spirit] and scooped up a jagged, heavy stone from the forest floor. His STR 30 stat lent surprising power to his movements. He leaped forward as the pig tried to reorient itself, brought the rock down with focused, two-handed force directly onto the pulsating bump on its forehead.
CRACK!
The sound was sharp, decisive. The pig’s legs buckled. It didn’t even twitch before collapsing, instantly dead. Clean and efficient.
The familiar system chime followed immediately.
`[You have defeated Great Stampede Pig (Lv 8)!]`
`[+800 EXP Acquired!]`
`[LEVEL UP!]`
`[You have reached Level 31!]`
`[All Stats increased by 1!]`
Another level, another small increment. STR 32, AGI 32, VIT 36, INT 34, SEN 33. HP nudged up to maybe 1700, AP nearing 34k. Good, steady growth. He took a moment to catch his breath, watching the rest of the stampede thunder past, leaving a trail of destruction and dozens of pig carcasses in its wake – felled by luck, traps, brute force, or sheer numbers of desperate applicants.
And that’s when the opportunity truly hit him. Carcasses. Dozens of them. Prime material for his Shadow Extraction. His current army of three was pathetic. Now was the time for a major upgrade.
He dragged his own kill slightly off to the side, away from the immediate focus of others who were starting the arduous task of hauling their prizes towards the designated cooking area. Then, he began his grim harvest. Moving quickly from one dead pig to the next, he placed a hand on each massive flank, focusing his intent and whispering the command, `[Shadow Extraction]`.
Black smoke, thick and viscous, billowed from each carcass he touched, coalescing into shadowy replicas of the giant pigs before dissolving into his `[Shadow Preservation]` storage. The AP cost was noticeable, around 160 points per pig due to their size and level, but with his pool of nearly 34,000 AP regenerating at over 3% per minute, it was utterly sustainable. He felt like a dark shepherd gathering his spectral flock.
One pig shadow, two, three… He added them alongside his initial trio. Four stored… five… ten… fifteen… He was rapidly building a respectable force. Sixteen… seventeen… eighteen stored (3 original + 15 pigs). Nineteen… twenty… He moved to the next carcass, placed his hand, invoked the skill…
`[Shadow Preservation Limit Reached (20/20)]`
`[Cannot preserve additional shadows.]`
`[System Note: Shadow Extraction Lv1 allows the Host to extract and command up to 30 shadows simultaneously. Shadow Preservation Lv1 allows indefinite storage of up to 20 shadows.]`
Leorio paused, absorbing the notification. Ah. So there was a difference. He could potentially extract and control more shadows (up to 30), but only if they remained ‘active’ – which likely meant a constant AP drain, something unsustainable for a large army outside of active combat. For long-term storage and on-demand summoning, his limit was 20. Good to know.
He looked at his current roster mentally: `[Shadow Frog Lv5]`, `[Shadow Ape Lv1]`, `[Shadow Imposter Lv1]`, and 17 `[Shadow Pig Lv8]`. Twenty slots full. He needed to optimize.
He called up the stats for a `[Shadow Pig Lv8]` again: STR 9, AGI 4, VIT 10, Skill: Charge. Now, compare that to his originals: Frog (S6/A5/V7), Ape (S2/A3/V2), Imposter (S1/A1/V1).
The decision was clinical, instantaneous. The Ape and Imposter were useless, taking up valuable space. The Frog had been handy, its agility and scouting potential useful in the swamp, but the Pigs offered far superior strength and durability. In a straight fight, or for forming a defensive wall or a charging force, twenty durable pig tanks were vastly preferable to seventeen pigs plus three weaklings.
Sorry guys, you’re fired, he thought with a touch of grim humor. He mentally selected the Frog, Ape, and Imposter shadows within the `[Shadow Preservation]` interface and hit the ‘Release’ command. He felt three faint connections snap, like threads being cut. Gone.
Three slots freed up. He immediately moved to the nearest available pig carcasses and performed the extraction three more times. `[Shadow Extraction Successful!]` x3.
His storage was full again. `[Shadow Preservation: 20/20]`. All slots now contained `[Shadow Pig Lv8]`. An army of twenty spectral swine, waiting silently in his shadow dimension, ready to be unleashed. He could feel their collective presence, a low hum of dormant power in the back of his mind. They weren’t smart, they weren’t fast, but they were tough, and there were twenty of them. A significant upgrade.
“Right then,” Leorio muttered to himself, dusting off his hands. He grabbed a leg of the massive pig he’d killed himself. Time for the actual hard part. Hauling this multi-ton beast to the cooking site and figuring out how to roast it seemed like a challenge far beyond simple monster slaying. His new shadow army, unfortunately, couldn’t help him cook. He braced himself and started dragging. This was going to take a while.