Slumbering Sloth

Vikram held his axe as he felt multiple memories that were not his flood his mind. The axe was like a savage beast that hungered blood, and slashes that were like claw swipes of a bear. 

Vikram opened his eyes and felt as though the axe in his hand was living and purring in his hand. But that was just the effect of his weapon arts reaching the next level. 

Vikram rushed into the village, his grip on the axe tightening as if it had gained a life of its own—like wings yearning to be unleashed. With a single, precise swing, he brought down the [Zealous Zombie], its grotesque form collapsing instantly.

When he reached the Halfling challenge, the savagery grew more and more. Vikram advanced relentlessly. Every strike of his axe tore through flesh and bone, each swing carrying a force that spoke of his unyielding resolve.

One by one, he mauled down every midget that dared to stand in his way. Blood spilled like a river, painting the ground in a macabre red, until finally, the cacophony of battle subsided into an eerie, unsettling calm.

Standing amidst the carnage, Vikram was drenched in blood, the metallic tang heavy in the air. His chest heaved as he exhaled a long sigh, his crimson-stained eyes glinting with a fierce, unspoken determination. Slowly, he eased his tense body, letting the weight of the moment settle in the silence.

He looked at the corpses of the creatures that had, at one point of time...

Vikram gritted his teeth, almost breaking the wooden hold of the axe, and forcefully calmed his mind. 

Now that he had some free time to explore the village, he was going to take his time and explore. 

Vikram went from house to house, in search of something that could be counted as something meaningful. 

And...

[You have collected Mayfly Grass.]

Vikram continued searching with detachment and found something. 

[You have collected Fire Script Scroll.]

Vikram tried to find a use for this paper because this was not grass, which meant that it had uses. And he did find a use for it. 

[You have been slain.]

Vikram just smiled at his idiocy. Of course, a thing that was named fire was going to blow him up. Nonetheless, Vikram found out that when he tore the paper, it would combust and blast fire everywhere. 

Vikram re-did the entire part and started collecting items. 

[You have collected Mayfly Grass.]

[You have collected Fire Script Scroll.]

Vikram also remembered that when he was impaled upon the wooden stake, he saw a golden glint hiding in the rubble inside the house. 

'Though that death was really brutal. Almost souls like,'

Vikram rushed to the home, and first and most importantly, hacked the wooden stake down. 

"That's what you get, you damned spawn of the devil!" 

Vikram smiled, shook his head, and searched through the rubble, and finally found what he was looking for. 

Vikram found a gourd, to be somewhat precise. The gourd was black and had a hint of gold. The gourd was made with a depiction of multiple faces of anguish and wailing of faces. Vikram shivered to look at the life-like depiction of the gourd, but he took it nonetheless. 

Because the next notification that the game gave him made him salivate over the gourd. 

[You have found the Divine Artifact, The Nether River Gourd.]

[Do you wish to bind it to your soul?]

Vikram hesitated for a moment but accepted it. Vikram somehow had a feeling that all things inside the game were made for him to grow. Vikram didn't know if it was someone who had manipulated him to think so, or if it was his instincts. 

But Vikram didn't have enough brain cells to expend to entertain the paranoid side of his brain. 

Black and gold streaks of light crackled and entered his body and the gourd itself disappeared. Vikram willed the gourd to come into existence, and it did. 

Vikram also noted a yellow and roughed-up paper in the corner of the room, he took the paper and tried to read. Even though he didn't speak the language of this realm, he instinctually understood the contents of the letter. 

It had something along the lines of...

[I really want to go to...

The... Elder is too boring. Everything... restrictive. I will be a star...

I... Hammer and An... ...Really will....~!]

It was all really gibberish. The paper itself was in bad condition, so it was really lucky that Vikram was somehow able to piece words together. 

'Yeah! Give me more cryptic shit! That's just what I need in my life!'

Vikram had a rough feeling that he had toured all the parts of the outer village, and he was now entering the inner village. 

'To hell with this damned game!' 

[Neurotic Infernal]

Vikram heard multiple steel and glass clinking and clattering, and he saw a more developed version of the damned imps. They were still short...

[You have been slain.]

'Well, guess they don't like being called short.'

[You have been slain.]

Vikram wondered what was so different from the previous versions of these damned imps, and Vikram couldn't find any. They were just like how they were before.

But now, it was as though their madness had reached unparalleled heights—their ferocity more pronounced, their strength more unyielding. Each movement they made carried a sense of untamed power, as if they had become vessels of raw, unrelenting chaos.

So, Vikram tried to lure all enemies that were on this stage. Even though he was sure that the number of these neurotic freaks was increasing from the previous encounter, he doubted that that was all there was to it. 

And he was not disappointed. 

Vikram saw two or three mages in the mix, and Vikram saw multiple zombies also. 

'This is going to be really...'

[You have been slain.]

First things were first, Vikram checked his souls after he cleaned up the outer village.

[Souls: 500]

[Level: 2]

[Realm: Blood Refining Realm(Early)]

[Strength: 2-->3](300 Souls)

[Agility: 2-->3](300 Souls)

[Vitality: 2-->3](300 Souls)

[Muscle and Bone Density: 2-->3](300 Souls)

[Blood Beast Energy: 2-->3](300 Souls)

[Stat Points: 0]

[Souls: 500]

[Weapon Arts]

[Double Axe Arts: Level 3]

(Axe Throwing)

(Consecutive Slashes)

(Axe Blocks)

Vikram upped his strength to 3 and was about to leave when he was startled by a notification. 

[Do you wish to fill The Nether River Gourd?]

Vikram said yes, and another notification popped up. 

[It will take 200 souls to fill The Nether River Gourd]

Vikram willed yes, and just like how he upped his stats, souls left from his body, and the gourd came into existence, levitated and the souls converged into the gourd. Vikram saw that multiple sockets on the face that were depicted on the gourd light up.

Vikram caught the gourd and felt the sloshing of the water inside the gourd. Vikram was dumbfounded by what this so-called 'divine artifact' was. 

[Do you wish to fill The Nether River Gourd?]

Vikram raised an eyebrow and willed yes. 

[It will take 800 souls to fill The Nether River Gourd]

'Good, another bottomless pit that feeds on my souls.'

Vikram shook his head, backed out of the statue, and entered the building.